Irreplaceable
by jellydonut14
Summary: When Toph meets a stranger named Terran, Sokka is anything but enthusiastic about him. But as Toph grows to like and even love Terran, Sokka feels like there isn't room in her life for the both of them. Can Toph convince him otherwise?
1. Chapter 1

**Hello good citizens! This is my very first fanfic ever, so tell me what you think. Also, I'm a little nervous about describing battle scenes, mostly the characters' movements, so I would really like it if I got some helpful feedback on any fight scenes in this story. Finale pairings and Toph/OC. Hopefully this fic will help sooth my achy, breaky, Tokka heart.**

**Disclaimer: Sadly, Avatar: The Last Airbender doesn't belong to me. Ownership and all copyrights belong to its creators ****Michael DiMartino** **and ****Bryan Konietzko and to Nickelodeon Studios and Viacom. **

**Suki's POV**

"Oh man, this is gonna be so much fun!"

Toph sits next to me, whispering with mischievous delight and an impish smirk on her face. We looked down at our two targets (Toph in her own way), trying to avoid snickering too loud, lest we blow our cover.

"I know. I can't wait to see the look on their faces. I mean…uh…sorry."

"Don't be. Listening to their screams will be more than enough for me. Just remember the plan, I get Zuko, and you get Sokka. Got it?"

"Yeah, but are you sure you'll be able to hang on and not get hurt? I mean, this isn't exactly like riding on Appa."

Toph grinned. "Don't worry about me. You just worry about how you're going to pay me my 50 gold pieces."

"Please, in your dreams, Toph. Just so you know, when you fall off first, I want my payment all up front."

"Whatever. Hey, they're sitting up right now. Perfect. Let's hurry up and do this before they lean their backs against the rocks again."

Zuko and Sokka were sitting at the base of a 7 foot tall ledge having a conversation about random things. Fortunately, they were still completely unaware of our presence and facing away from us. We quietly switched places so that I was directly above Sokka and Toph was directly above Zuko.

"Ok. On the count of three. One… two…"

Toph tensed up ready to jump down in a split second.

"Three." We silently jumped off the ledge like ninjas and landed on the backs of the two guys. Let the fun begin.

As soon as we landed, I heard Zuko let out an ear piercing scream and both of them started jumping around like crazy. I didn't think we'd scare them that badly.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"We're under attack!"

"Hold on Suki, we've got ourselves a couple of wild ones here."

As soon as they heard us laughing, they stopped panicking, though they were still jumping and twisting around in a humorous attempt to get us off.

"Suuukiii, get off!" I laughed at my boyfriend's whiney voice.

"Make me!"

Sokka momentarily stopped. "Oh, so that's how its gonna be, huh?"

He started laughing and slamming his back, and, consequently, me, into various things like trees and large boulders that were scattered around the field we were in.

"Give up?"

"Never!"

"Oookaaaay." At that point he fell heavily to the ground, landing on his back. The force of his weight on my chest was too much, and I let go. We got up and dusted ourselves off, still laughing. At least Sokka won't be mad at us.

"Are you OK?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, but where is Toph?"

We looked around and I saw two dark haired figures about 20 feet away. What we saw before us had us doubled over in mirth.

Toph was still hanging on to Zuko, her waist length hair flying wildly behind her, and it didn't look like she was giving up any time soon. Well, there goes 50 gold pieces.

"Get off me, you little squirrel rat!"

"Tsk tsk, Zuzu, you'll have to ask nicer than that."

"Shut up and get off my back NOW!"

"Not happening. I said I'd get you back for burning my feet, and now I'm doing it."

"That was FOUR years ago, Toph!"

"So? Better late than never."

"ARRRRGGGGGHHHH!"

Sokka and I had finally calmed down enough to watch as Toph skillfully dodged Zuko's attempts to reach around and pluck her off of him. How she managed to do that when she was off the ground and therefore completely blind is beyond my understanding, though I supposed she could sense his movements somehow.

"Toph I mean it, get off before I kick your ass!"

"That's no way to talk to your lord and master. Now, get going, Sparky!"

She kicked her heels into his side, as if he were an ostrich horse. Zuko let out a sharp yelp and started running around, franticly trying to get the little earthbender off his back. After a few minutes, Zuko stopped, apparently out of breath.

"What's the matter Sparky had enough?"

Zuko stared ahead for a few seconds, and then had an evil smirk on his face. He grabbed Toph's arms, which were wrapped tightly around his neck, and began pulling on them and Toph almost immediately wrapped her legs around him. Zuko must have been expecting this to happen, because he instantly let go of her arms, grabbed her feet, and started raking his nails across the bottom of them. Toph screeched and let go of him. After letting her hit the ground, Zuko immediately jerked her back up by the back of her tunic's collar and held her off the ground in a head lock.

"Hey! What gives?!"

"Yeah, not so funny anymore, is it? When I say get off, I mean GET OFF."

At this point, Sokka and I walked up to them, still snickering.

"Come on Zuko, lighten up, they were just playing."

"Yeah, it was just some light-hearted fun."

"Fun? You three might think its fun, but I just see it as immature. When you all going to grow up?"

Toph looked up at him, still trying to wriggle out of his iron grip. "When it stops being optional. Face it Zuko, you're 20 years old, but you act like a stuffy old man."

Zuko narrowed his eyes at her. "Well you're 16, but you act like a 3 year old!"

"It's called staying in touch with your inner child. Learn how to do it some time."

"Fine. You think I can't have fun? Just watch."

Zuko flipped Toph upside down and held one of her feet. He then started to tickle the bottom of her sensitive foot, causing a now tortured Toph to squirm and giggle.

"Hey, what are you- stop it!...hahaha… That's enough!..heeheeheehee... I mean it!"

"Is that fun enough for you?"

"Let her go, she's had enough."

"Fine."

And with that, he let her drop to the ground, and Toph scrambled over to me and Sokka. Then out of nowhere, the boulder that Zuko was standing directly in front of moved aside, revealing a large mass of brown fur that proceeded to head butt Zuko from behind, shooting him forward and crashing to the ground. I was beginning to wonder when that fuzz ball would show up.

"Good girl, Cabi! (A/N: pronounced 'Ca-bee') Show Zuko what happens when someone messes with me."

The badgermole grunted and calmly made her way around Zuko, burying her face into Toph's open arms and purring softly. She's just a juvenile, being about a year younger than Toph, and was only about 5 ½ feet at the shoulders. Sokka and Zuko were taller than that. But she still had plenty of growing years ahead of her. Groaning, Zuko turned over onto his back and looked up incredulously at Toph and Cabi.

"You actually brought that thing with you?"

"Of course. How do you think Suki and I got to this field? I've been teaching Cabi to accelerate along the ground using her earthbending. She can even follow Appa's scent and keep up with him now. Cabi is my best friend and we're inseparable. I've had her since the end of the war and she's not going anywhere, so get used to it, Sparky."

"Hey, what about me?" I looked over at Sokka, who had a very hurt look on his face.

"Besides you Snoozles. Cabi is my best non-human friend."

Toph "looked" at Zuko and stomped her foot on the ground, making the earth push him to his feet.

"You people think you know me so well. I can have fun too, you know." Zuko said as he dusted himself off.

Sokka looked at him with a small smirk. "Whatever you say….Sifu Hotman."

"For the last time, DON'T CALL ME THAT!"

As Zuko said that, his entire body momentarily became engulfed in flames, yet he didn't burn himself or his clothes. Sokka had this frightened look on his face.

"H-how did you d-do that?!"

"It's a new fire bending move I've been working on. I've been practicing it a lot lately. What I did was an accident and I apologize, but you guys can be so infuriating sometimes."

"Hey, what good is being family if we can't get on each other's nerves. So, what can you do with that new move, anyway?"

"I haven't figured that out yet."

Suddenly, Zuko's eyes widened and a smirk slowly etched its way across his face.

"I can prove to all of you that I can have fun, and if you want to see how, meet me in front of our house just after sunset. I'll show you a real prank."

"Sure thing, Zuko. Plus, that gives us a few hours to enjoy day 1 of the World Festival. I would've gone sooner, but they weren't selling food yet. Some nonsense about 'you can't rush perfection.'"

"That is so like you. Well, since the sun is so hot right now, it must be midday. They should be selling food by now. Wait, how am I supposed to know when it's after sunset? Night and late sunset feel the same to me."

"Suki and I will come find you. If Cabi is with you, it shouldn't be that hard."

"Sweet. Alright, Cabi lets go get some food. Hop on everyone, oh, and Suki, you owe me 50 gold pieces."

"Yeah, yeah. Just stop by the house. I'll get it for you. Stupid bet."

"Toph, don't you think I should drive?"

"Driving a badgermole is way different from driving Appa, Snoozles. I can actually feel a decent amount of vibrations through Cabi so I can "see" where I'm going just fine. Except when she's swimming. I can't do anything about that. Now are you getting on or do you just want to walk there?"

We all climbed up on Cabi. Toph nudged her shoulder and Cabi lurched forward, gradually picking up speed as Toph guided her back to our house in Ba Sing Se and then to the festival.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Toph's POV**

"So Cabi, what do you want to eat first?"

Cabi grunted and nudged my side. She must have been really hungry. I could've heard and felt her stomach rumbling from way over in the Fire Nation. We slowly walked down the street among all the food vendors, taking in all the different smells. Sokka ditched us as soon as we arrived at the festival, claiming that he smelled a meat vendor nearby. He ran off so fast, I could barely feel his feet touch the ground, with Suki trailing after him. Zuko muttered something about going to look for Mai and wandered off, leaving Cabi and I to explore on our own. The World Festival always had the best food from all the nations. Even Aang usually makes a few air nomad dishes to sell, though they were usually some kind of fruit pastry. Apparently, people can't get enough of them. I'll have to try some this year.

The World Festival is part of Zuko's peace plan as the new firelord. He's determined to show everyone that he is nothing like his horrible but now pathetic and bendingless father and his psycho sister. Every year, a different nation hosts the festival, which lasts for a whole week. This year it's being hosted by the Earth Kingdom in Ba Sing Se. As the main war heroes, the whole gang, which now includes Zuko, Mai, and Suki, has to make an appearance. That's fine by me, since there is plenty of food and entertainment to keep me occupied. The only thing I have to put up with is people crowding around me talking about how great it is that I taught the avatar earthbending and helped end the war. I enjoy a little praise here and there, but come on people, give me some space! Cabi suddenly jerked to the right, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Cabi, slow down! You're going to damage something!"

I ran after her and made sure she didn't hurt anyone or anything. Normally she's very calm, but when she's hungry and there's food nearby, she can be a bit reckless with her movements. Fortunately, the streets of Ba Sing Se have been made much wider to accommodate the larger population, so even when Cabi reaches full size, she can still walk around the festival with me when it's in the Earth Kingdom and not have a high risk of upsetting anything. She stopped in front of what smelled like a meat stand. A fire nation stand to be exact. I felt the woman turn to face us, and I could hear the smile in her voice. From the sound of it, she was a fairly young woman.

"A badgermole? Then you must be Lady Bei Fong. It is an honor to meet you."

"Lady Bei Fong is my mother. Just call me Toph. And this fuzzy girl is Cabi." Ugh. People and their formalities.

"Hello Cabi. She is so cute. You must be a very noble person, Toph. Only a few people in the entire world have been deemed worthy enough by the badgermoles to have one of their own as a personal companion. Even several war heroes were turned down in the past."

I heard Cabi sniffing hungrily at the assorted meats. I hope she doesn't ransack the whole stand.

"Looks like your friend is hungry. We have a large variety of meats here."

"Do you have any large cuts of meat? And it can't have any spicy seasonings on it. Those kinds make Cabi sick. Oh, and I'll have a mixed bowl of komodo rhino and roast turkey chicken with sweet and sour sauce."

"You're in luck, my sister is almost finished cooking a large side of a hippo cow. I'll tell her not to use anything spicy. And your order should be done in about 15 minutes."

When the woman came back with the food, Cabi quickly snatched the large cut of grilled hippo cow out of her hands. Seriously, where were her manners today?

"How much for the food?"

"It's on the house."

Unlike Twinkle Toes, I enjoy freebies. But this seemed like a lot of food to not pay for.

"At least let me pay for mine and half of Cabi's"

"If you insist. That will be 5 gold pieces."

I thanked the lady and paid her, then focused my attention back on Cabi only to realize that she had already started tearing into her food like a rabid animal. She must be going through a growth spurt. I had to practically drag her out of the middle of the street just to find a table to sit at. Though I can't say my eating habits were much better. We both wolfed down our meals and continued onward in search of

Aang's stand. After several hours of walking around and stopping every now and then to enjoy various performances, I finally recognized Aang's light footsteps a short distance away.

"Hey Twinkle Toes. How are the fruit pastries selling?"

"Hi Toph. It's going great! The fruit pies are practically selling themselves. I just got finished serving a wave of customers and I'm about to close up the stand. I only have a few left, want to try one?"

"Sure."

Aang handed me what smelled like a watermelon fruit pie. Words can't describe the sweet fruity goodness that my mouth was experiencing.

"Wow! These are really good! Do you have any- Cabi, no! Get away from there!"

But I was too late. Cabi grabbed the rest of the delicious fruit pies from the stand's counter and gobbled them all up. I have got to start watching her more closely. I heard Aang chuckling softly.

"It's OK Toph, I had to get rid of those one way or another. Besides, if I'm not mistaken, young badgermoles start growing rapidly around her age. Here Cabi, look what Uncle Aang has for you."

Aang pulled out a large earthen barrel filled with different kinds of fruit. Cabi sniffed at it, then licked Aang before starting to empty it. I was pleased to know that she was eating the fruit a lot slower than she ate that meat. Suddenly, I felt the vibrations of a struggle going on between five people in an ally close to me. As the team who ended the war, my friends and I are not only expected to keep the peace in the world, but also at any festivals we attend. Personally, I don't see why the guards can't just do their job by themselves, but it does give me an excuse to knock some heads.

"Aang, could you watch Cabi for me. I'll be right back."

"Sure Toph."

I walked over to the alley in question and hid just around the corner to listen in on the fight. I felt five people in total, two standing on one side of the ally and three on the other side. From the way that they moved around, I could tell that three were earth benders, one was a water bender, and one was a fire bender. I heard a guy of about 17 or 18 yelling and another larger guy who was probably in his early 20's laughing in the smaller guy's face and felt him holding something just out of reach.

"Come on Roan(A/N: pronounced row-an), give it back! I won it fair and square in a game by myself. You had nothing to do with it! What's your deal?"

"Aww. Does my baby brother want his stuffed moose lion back? Tell you what. I'll give it back if you dance for it."

I heard a little girl join in. "Just give it back. It means nothing to you anyway."

"You know what? You're right Tao, (A/N: rhymes with 'how'") it doesn't mean anything to me. So why should I care what happens to it."

Roan handed the stuffed animal to his fire bender friend and I heard him incinerate it. The smell was awful. What on earth was this guy's problem?

"Hey! What was that for?! You're such a jerk Roan!"

"Shut up Tao! Nobody cares what you think."

I felt the little girl earth bend a small rock at Roan, but he dodged it and it hit the water bender instead.

"That's it runt! You're outta here." The water bender walked over to Tao and hoisted her up in the air.

"Hey let her go Lin! It was an accident!"

"Shut it Terran! She has it coming. If you're old enough to hit, you're old to get hit."

"Let me go or I'll beat your ugly face in!"

"Yeah, you wish."

With one strong swing, Lin threw Tao out of the ally, and Tao landed right next to where I was standing, just outside the alley's entrance. I had heard enough.

"Who are you?"

"Just get behind me. I'll deal with this."

Tao did as she was told and I stood ready at the alley's entrance.

"That was my baby sister, you bitch!"

"So? What are you gonna do about it?"

Terran lunged at Lin only to be caught and then pinned to the wall by Roan.

"Hey! If you low lives are looking for a real match, you've got one standing right here!"

As soon as I felt Roan turn his head to look toward me, Terran slammed his fist into the wall he was pinned to, causing a small pillar of rock to jut out of it and nail Roan in his gut. Roan fell back against the opposite wall, wheezing while his two no good friends ran to his side. I used this distraction to send a wall of earth hurtling toward them and push them out of the alley into the street on the opposite side from where I was standing. I told Tao to stay put and ran after them.

When I reached the street on the other side of the alley, Roan had apparently recovered and had assumed a fighting stance along with the fire and water benders. Also, there were several people gathering around to see what was going on.

"You three have harassed and assaulted two innocent people. Before I forcefully contain anyone, I'm required to ask the three of you to peacefully leave the area."

"It's three against one, short stuff. Why should I leave? You're the one who needs to beat it."

"OK, your funeral." Well, well. Looks like I'll get to see some action after all.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender. If I did, do you honestly think I'd be wasting my time with fanfictions?**

**Toph's POV**

A smirk slowly appeared on my face. This guy has no idea who he's dealing with. I easily took out the fire and water benders by encasing them up to their necks in rock and sending them flying into the wall of the building behind me, shattering the rocks and knocking them out cold. Ha! Learn how to play, rookies. I tried doing the same thing to Roan, but being a fellow earthbender, he countered by breaking the rocks as they rose up around him. By now, the people around us had more than gladly moved out of the way. Some of the earth bender vendors even put up a protective wall in front of the stands to prevent any damage. I could feel Terran and Tao watching from just inside alley.

Roan tried to make me loose balance by making earth pillars rise up from under me, but I felt them coming from a mile off. I nimbly dodged each one and sent a storm of rocks flying at him which he swiftly blocked by bringing up a wall and kicking it toward me. I stood there, letting the wall hit me so I could wrap it around myself (except for my head) and use it as armor. In the blink of an eye, I sent myself rocketing toward him in an attempt to bulldoze him over. No way would he be fast enough to counter this. But he was, and he did. He punched my armor, causing it to shatter and sending me flying backward. I had to admit, he was good. He had excellent reflexes and could move around quickly. But that's OK. After all, I'm not the same 12 year old girl who joined the avatar on his journey. I had learned from battles with a variety of benders. Now I'm 4 years older and 4 years better. Bring it on Roan, I love a good challenge.

"Had enough, half pint? I'd hate to beat up a girl."

I put on my signature smirk. "That makes two us."

I must have hit a nerve with him because he growled and sent a massive boulder at me, which I easily disintegrated. Then he tried to catch me by surprise by making another pillar shoot out of the ground at an angle and hit me in the back. Does he even know that I'm blind and therefore makes no difference whether something is in front of or behind me? As the pillar came out of the ground, I jumped up and let it push me forward into the air. Before I could land, I felt what had to be Roan tackle me out of the air

and onto the ground. When we landed, he picked me up by the front of my tunic and threw me a short distance. I crashed into what felt like trash cans, which, fortunately, were empty. I heard Roan laughing.

"Hopefully the garbage collectors will take you with the rest of the trash."

Uhhggg. This guy was really starting to get on my nerves. OK Toph, think. What can you do beat this guy? Then I realized the trash cans I was laying on were metal. I'm done being nice.

I took one of the trash cans and metalbent it into two pieces, and then bent the pieces over my hands and arms. Roan stopped laughing and became dead silent when saw me metalbending. I took a deep breath and went underground. While down there, I could feel Roan turning in every direction, trying to figure out where I was and what I was doing. Then I felt him stop and his heart rate shot up. Time to finish this. I surfaced right behind him. Roan only had time to turn around and face me.

"Eat metal asshole."

I punched him square in his jaw, and sent him crashing to the ground. I rushed over to a now dazed Roan and secured his hands behind his back using the metal on my hands and then discarded the metal on my arms. Let's see him bend his way out of that. Unfortunately, I wasn't paying attention to the two people who grabbed me from behind. They must have recovered from their head injuries. Damn.

"Hey! Put her down!"

**Sokka's POV**

Suki and I pushed our way through the crowd to see what the commotion was about. We had heard that a fight had broken out between two earth benders. There in the middle of the cleared area was Toph being held up by her arms by a boy and a girl who both looked to be in their late teen years.

"Hey! Put her down!"

Suki and I grabbed the two teens and restrained them.

"What do you two think you're doing?"

Toph got up off the ground and turned to face us.

"I caught them and this guy," she pointed at a guy who looked to be about Zuko's age lying on the ground with his hands bound behind his back with metal, "harassing and assaulting two people in an alley. I asked them to leave the area and they refused, choosing to fight me instead."

Someone from the crowd spoke up.

"It's true. We saw the whole thing."

A low murmur of approval spread over the crowd as three guards walked up to us.

"We'll take it from here."

As they took the two people we held and the guy lying on the ground, I got a good look at the girl and stopped the guard who was taking her away.

"Hey. I recognize you. Your name is Lin right? You're one of Katara's water bending students. In fact you're supposed to be at her water bending lesson. Don't worry; I'll let her know why you couldn't make it. I'm sure your master would LOVE to hear about it."

As I motioned for the guards to take them away, some guy and a little girl walked up to Toph.

**Toph's POV**

What on earth?! 'Oh, we'll take it from here.' Yeah, now that all the hard work is done. Where were those lazy ass guards when I was being flung around like a rag doll?! People can be so irritating sometimes!

"Thanks for helping me out back there."

"Huh?" I turned around and noticed that Terran and Tao had walked up to me. Terran's heart beat was really high. What's his problem?

"What you did in the alley. Thanks."

"Yeah, well, it was no problem. Just stay out of alleys."

Terran let out a nervous laugh. "Yeah, I'll be sure to do that. By the way, my name is Terran and this is my little sister, Tao."

I could tell Tao was excited from her bounciness. "Wow! You were so awesome! You totally kicked my sorry brother's butt! And how did you learn to metal bend?! I didn't even think that was possible!"

"Let's just say that I learned it out of necessity."

"So, ummm….." Terran's heart sounded like it was going to pop right out of his chest. No way. Does he…"do you maybe want to…go do something? You know, with me and my sister?"

Before I could even think of anything to say, Sokka moved me aside and confronted Terran.

"You mean with just you. And the answer is no. We have somewhere to be, so if you don't mind, you and your sister need to go home and stay out of trouble."

"Sokka!" Suki slapped him right at the back of his head.

"…a-and it was nice meeting you." he said, as I sensed him rubbing his head.

Did I mention that ever since I was 15, Sokka has gradually become the biggest bird dog in the history of the world? But I'm not surprised since he did the same thing to Katara when he found out that she and Aang were officially a couple shortly after the war ended. The only reason he stopped hanging over them was the attention I started getting. Chasing away random guys who show interest in me has become somewhat of a hobby for Sokka. Even Zuko will join him every now and then. I don't blame them though. The guys who approach me have a tendency to piss me off. Most of them are arrogant jerks who think they can have any girl they want, and the few that aren't are offended by my independent and headstrong personality. Once I give them a reality check and they see what I'm like, they try to save face by saying 'who would want to be with a blind girl anyway?' and making ugly comments about my appearance. I never admit it to anyone, but some of what they say really hurts. I just give them a taste of my earthbending. That is if Sokka and Zuko don't get to them first.

Sokka tugged on my shoulder for us leave, and as I turned to follow him and Suki, Terran gently grabbed my arm and stopped me.

"Wait, can I at least know your name before you go?"

"Look, Terran, you're nice and all, but I really-"

"Hey! I thought I told you to leave!"

"But I just…ok."

I felt Terran take his little sister's hand and walk away. Once they were gone, Suki grabbed one of the fans from her belt and smacked Sokka.

"Sokka, I can't believe you! That was so mean! He just wanted to know her name."

"Please. I've seen guys like him, and they're nothing but trouble, right Toph?"

"Right. Now let's just get Cabi and go meet Zuko."

When we found Aang still cleaning up his food stand, Cabi was lying on her side and softly snoring next to an empty, tipped over barrel. We got her up and headed over to the house we shared in the upper ring. I wonder what Zuko has planned?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Sokka's POV**

By the time we arrived at our house, the moon was beginning to rise and I could see Zuko dressed in red and black standing out front.

"So, you guys ready to see the greatest prank ever?" Under the small amount of moon light, I could see an impish smirk on his face.

"Greatest prank ever? What do you plan on doing?"

"I'll fill you in once we get to the woods behind the city. I have all the stuff we'll need. You ready to go?"

"Sure Sparky. Cabi, you stay here."

"No, bring her too. We'll need her for this to work."

"Why?"

"I'll tell you later, let's just go."

Everyone climbed up on the badgermole and we headed out to the edge of the woods. Once there, we got down and started walking. When the war ended, the leaders of Ba Sing Se decided they were sick of being surrounded by a barren wasteland. So they did some major landscaping and employed lots of earth benders to help plant grass and transplant flowers, huge trees, and other plants. The forest looks beautiful during the day, but at night, I found it to be downright creepy. I jumped when I heard something snap.

"What was that?! Suki, did you hear that?" My sword made a metallic _sing _sound as I drew it and started nervously looking around.

"Sokka, calm down. You're worrying about nothing. Now put your sword away before you accidentally hurt someone."

"Yeah, Sokka, you need to chill. Sometimes I wonder why I agreed to go look for that sword." I glared at Toph and reluctantly put my space sword back in its sheath. "So, Sparky, what are we doing out here anyway?"

"It involves Katara and her water bending students. I know they're out here somewhere and I need you to locate them."

"Ok, but what are we doing that involves them?"

"We're going to scare them using an old spirit legend. The legend says that Agni, the fire spirit, had an unruly servant named Pyro who was jealous of Agni because he wanted to be the spirit of fire. But Pyro knew he would never be strong enough to fight Angi for the title of fire spirit. So instead, he took his anger and frustration out on the people of the mortal world by riding around at night on his dragon that was made of fire and would scare anyone wondering around outside. When Agni heard about this, he told Pyro to stop immediately or he would be banished from the Great Fire Palace. When Pyro refused to listen, he was banished and was forced to roam the spirit world in solitude. But every so often, Pyro still came to the mortal world at night to scare unsuspecting people, even to this day."

"I heard that story. Gran Gran used to tell it to me and Katara to scare us into not sneaking out at night. I think Katara still believes it, despite what she tells people."

Suki looked a little skeptical. "Zuko, maybe we shouldn't-"

"I found them."

I looked up to see Toph run off somewhere.

"Toph slow down! It's dark out here."

She slowed down a little and we continued to follow her through the woods until we came to a large clearing with a small lake. Sure enough, there was Katara with a small group of students practicing waterbending moves under the moon light.

"Why would Katara take her students way out here? Couldn't she just teach them in the city?"

"It's quiet out here, and I remember her telling me she wanted her students to fully concentrate so they could understand the power that the moon gives them."

"So let me guess. We're going to make them think they are being attacked by Pyro, right?"

"Yep."

"And how do you expect to do that? Make a dragon made of fire magically appear?"

"Sort of. Remember that new firebending move I told you about? Well I'm going to use it to make them think I'm Pyro. According to the legend, Pyro had four arms and two heads, so Toph, since you're the lightest you're going get on my back and make it look like I have four arms and two heads. And you'd better not kick me this time."

"So what are we going to do for a dragon?"

"That's where Cabi comes in. You and I are going get on Cabi and I'll use my new fire bending move to wrap fire around us and her. Then I'll shape the fire around Cabi to make it look like a dragon. The flames will hover just over our bodies, so you won't feel any pain whatsoever, just a little warm."

"I gotta admit, Sparky, you've come up with one kickass prank."

"So what do I do?"

"You and Suki are going to be the voices of Pyro and the dragon. Here, take these."

Zuko handed us two objects that looked like oddly shaped announcing horns.

"I tweaked those announcing horns so when you talk into them, instead of it just making your voice really loud, it will make your voice really loud, deep, and booming. You will be the voice of Pyro and Suki will make dragon sounds. Does everyone understand what they're doing?"

"Yeah."

"Got it."

"Yes sir, Captain Sparky."

Toph climbed up on Zuko's back and wrapped her legs around his torso, leaving her hands and arms free to move and Zuko climbed up on Cabi. Suki and I backed away a short distance and hid behind a bush 

that allowed us to see without being seen. Suki started making low growls into her announcing horn. I saw Katara and her students start looking around. That's when I started cackling into my announcing horn and really started to freak out some of the kids. I've always wanted to do an evil laugh.

Zuko ignited his fire and quickly spread it over Toph, Cabi, and himself until all three of them were completely covered in flames. Then he shaped the fire around Cabi's face into that of a dragon's and formed a tail at the back. For a moment, I wondered if anyone would fall for it. Cabi was little small to look like the real deal. But I supposed everyone would be too scared to notice. Zuko signaled Cabi to slowly walk forward into the clearing. As she did, I stepped up the volume and intensity of my evil laugh.

"MWAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Cabi stopped and Zuko stood up. It was all Suki and I could do not to laugh at the scene that was unfolding. Kids were running all over the place, screaming at the top of their lungs and running into each other. Katara had a look of pure terror on her face. I almost felt bad for her, but then I remembered all the times that she bossed me around, needlessly yelled at me, and abused me with her water bending. Toph is right, pay back is sweet.

Suki made a loud roar that made everyone stop dead in their tracks. Zuko and Toph lifted their hands and Zuko made fire come out of them.

"MWAHAHA! PUNY MORTALS! KNEEL BEFORE THE GREAT PYRO!"

"It's Pyro! He's real! He's really real!"

"We're all gonna die!!"

Everyone screamed, including Katara. "Ahhhhhh!!"

"YES, THAT'S IT MORTALS! FEAR ME! FEEEAAARRR MEEEEE!"

Zuko did a really good job with the announcing horns. I didn't even recognize my own voice. Everyone started running around again. Some of the kids even jumped in the lake to try and hide.

**Zuko's POV**

This was going better than I imagined it would. Toph and I were trying so hard not to laugh and ruin the whole act. Through the flames, I could see the people below me running in every direction. I decided to step things up by making a fire whip and swinging it around. Not at or even near anyone, mind you. Just swinging it around. I could hear Sokka's altered voice booming over the clearing.

"RUN MORTALS! RUN LIKE THE SCARED LITTLE HAMSTER RABBITS YOU ARE!

Sokka was really good at improvising and matching his words to my actions. But then again, there's a reason that he's known as the 'idea guy'. If we keep this up-

"OW! SUKI, GET OFF MY FOOT! OOPS, I MEAN…UH…UH OH."

The universe must hate me today. Everyone in the clearing froze and had confused looks on their faces. I saw Katara look at me then narrow her eyes. She gathered a huge wave and sent it flying at us. Toph must have heard the wave as Katara was forming it, because we both said the same thing. Oh shit.

**Sokka's POV**

Suki and I looked at each other with worried expressions as we saw Katara throw a huge wave of water at Toph and Zuko, dousing out the flames and knocking them off Cabi, who just shook the extra water from her coat.

"You just had to say that into the announcing horn, didn't you?"

"It was an accident!"

She sighed. "We're screwed, aren't we?"

"Royally."

**Zuko's POV**

Toph and I were lying on the ground, soaking wet as Katara stalked over to us with her expression set in a death glare.

"Toooooph! Zuuuukooo!"

We're done for.

"Would either of you care to explain to me why you felt the need to interrupt my lesson and scare me and my students half way out of our skin?" Her voice was dangerously low.

"Well…you…had it coming. You used me as a target for your students to practice throwing ice balls at!"

"Those ice balls weren't that big. It was an innocent joke, Zuko. This… I don't know what this is. Someone could've gotten hurt!"

"Nothing was set on fire and no one was going to get hurt. I even took special care to make sure of it."

Katara closed her eyes then took a deep breath and let it out. "You have to the count of three to get out of my sight before I decide whose ass to kick first. ONE…"

Nobody had to tell me twice. I grabbed Toph's hand and sprinted out of the clearing with Cabi following close behind, not daring to look back.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Toph's POV**

When we all got back to the house, we left Cabi outside and immediately ran to our rooms and shut our doors. Unfortunately, we didn't get to stay in them. A while later, Katara came storming into the house and chased us out to the front porch.

"My students may have finished with their lesson, but yours isn't over yet. I hope you four haven't lost your love for the outdoors because that's where you're all going to be sleeping tonight."

"But Katara-"

"GOOD NIGHT!"

And with that, she slammed the front door and locked it. Sokka and I slowly turned to each other and stared for a minute before bursting out laughing. I could practically feel the confused stares Zuko and Suki were giving us.

"What are you two laughing about? We're half dressed and just got kicked out of the house."

I tried to speak through my fits of laughter. "Because… we just tried to pull off…what is perhaps…the most insane prank ever."

"Yeah, and we almost got away with it. Come on, Zuko. Sometimes, the only thing you can do is laugh at yourself."

I felt Suki lightly shove Zuko. "Remind me to never agree to any prank you come up with ever again."

"Alright, I get it. Let's just go to sleep and try to forget this."

We walked around to the back of the house and found Appa and Cabi quietly snoring next to each other. Suki, Zuko and Sokka made themselves comfortable on Appa while I settled on Cabi's front paws. I rolled over and snuggled up to her chest as the sound of her slow steady heartbeat lulled me into a deep sleep, not caring that I'd probably wake up the next morning smelling like wet badgermole.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Terran's POV**

"Terran's got a girlfriend! Terran's got a girlfriend!"

As we walked back to our home in the lower ring, Tao kept pestering me about our encounter with that female earthbender.

"Would you please stop saying that. And I don't have a girlfriend."

"Then why were you blushing when you were talking to that girl?"

"I was nervous."

"Yeah, because you like her."

"Well…ok, so what if I do? It doesn't matter anyway. She wouldn't want anything to do with me and it was clear that her friend didn't like me."

"I think you should try again anyway. It was her friend who did all the talking, not her. Plus, she had some place to be."

"Look, Tao, could you please just drop it?"

"Ok. But I still think you should try again."

For a 10 year old, my little sister could be very persistent, but I had to admit she was right. I couldn't just give up after one failed attempt that probably failed only because of that guy. Besides, I don't think I could forget about that girl even if I wanted to. Her personality was so different from the girls that I usually see. She didn't take my older brother's snide remarks and instead threw them right back in his face. Even when the fight was going rough for her, she didn't give in and kept getting right back in despite her small size. I'll never understand how someone so rough could command the earth with such grace. And she was pretty. She had shiny ebony colored hair that came down almost to her waist, and her green and brown clothes showed off her curves and small waist. When I got a closer look at her, I could see that her skin was slightly tanned, probably from spending a lot of time out in the sun. It was very smooth and radiant despite the thin layer of dust she was covered in. It's too bad I couldn't get a good look at her eyes though, as they were partially hidden behind her long bangs. How did she manage to see through all that hair? Maybe I can find her again and find out, hopefully when her friend isn't around.


	3. Chapter 3

**This is the last of the three chapters that I already had written before posting this story. The fouth chapter will be up…whenever.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Avatar: The Last Airbender, Tokka would've happened and I wouldn't be writing this fic to get over the fact that it didn't.**

**Toph's POV**

I heard a low growling/snoring noise as I woke up the next morning. Sure enough, the pungent smell of wet badgermole hung in the air even though I was pretty sure Cabi was dry by now. I got up and had a "look" around, sensing that everyone was still asleep, and that there was no activity going on in the house. Awesome, Katara must not have gotten up yet. I sneaked inside to put on a robe and grab some clothes from my room and headed over to the only place in Ba Sing Se with bath oils strong enough to get out the smell of wet badgermole, The Gentle Springs Bath House. It was still pretty early, and I as I walked into the front lobby, could sense only a few people walking around the bath house. One set of vibrations coming toward me felt very familiar. Sweet mother of Yue, why did it have to be _him_?

"Oh, hi. May I assist…hey it's you."

"Terran?! Do you work here?"

"Yeah, the manager allowed me to temporarily work here so I could have money to spend at the festival. If you just got here, I can go get the oils you want and show you to an available bath stall."

The spirits must enjoy watching me suffer. I considered turning around and leaving, but this was the only place that could have me smelling like a normal person again.

"Fine. Bring me the strongest lavender scented oils you have."

I paid him the fee of 1 gold piece and felt him walk into a back room in the lobby and come back out.

"Please follow me."

We walked through a door that led to a large tiled room filled with bath stalls. After walking a short distance, Terran stopped and turned to face me.

"Here's your towel, washcloth and bath oils. There's a rope next to the tub. Pull it to ring the bell if you need anything. Enjoy."

I sensed him walk back down the row of stalls and turn the corner. I quickly bathed and when I got out of the tub that was set into the floor and stepped onto the earthen tiles, I could feel Terran's vibrations standing in the lobby. I tried getting dressed as slowly as possible so hopefully he would leave before I walked through there again, but he hadn't moved. Was he waiting for me or something? I might as well go see what he wants. I calmly walked out of the bath stall and toward the lobby.

"What do you want? I know you've been standing in that exact spot for quite some time now, and I know it's because you were waiting for me."

"Yeah, I was. I just- wait. How did you know I was standing in here?"

"I have my ways. Now what do you want?"

"I wanted to talk to you. That guy that was with you last night ran me off before I could even know your name."

"So you want to know why?"

"No. I just want to talk with you."

"Well that's just too bad 'cause I need to get home."

"I could walk you there."

"Don't you have a job to do?"

"I only work mornings and I got someone to cover for me. Please, just give me a chance."

I almost told him to get lost, but his pathetic begging had awaked my under-used conscience and caused it to start yelling at me to let him walk me home. Damn conscience.

"Fine you can walk me home, but I swear, if you come to my house looking for me, I will encase you in so much metal, not even the spirits will be able to get you out."

"I promise I won't bother you at your house."

"Good, now let's go."

We walked out of the front lobby and on to the street, which was now much more alive with activity. He'd better not turn out to be an arrogant jackass or else the Ba Sing Se infirmary will be getting another patient.

**Terran's POV**

Yes! I finally get a chance to get to know this girl! Thank you karma spirit or whoever was in charge of stuff like this.

"So what do you want to talk about?"

"First of all, what's your name?"

"Toph."

"Is that because you're so tough?"

"Huh?"

"Your name sounds close to the word 'tough'. I know my parents named me Terran because it sounds like the word 'terrain'"

"You're not the first person to notice that about me."

"So Toph how did you-"

I stopped talking when a gust of wind blew back her long bangs and revealed her eyes. They were an eerie milky green color and seemed to stare at nothing. Dude, no way…

"You're blind?!"

She flinched as I said this. Oh man, I hope I didn't offend her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before speaking.

"Yes, I'm blind."

"But how did you do all that bending last night? You were awesome!"

"I may be blind, but I can still "see" everything around me, usually better than most normal people."

"How?"

"That's for me to know and you to never find out. All you need to know is that I can do almost anything a seeing person can do and I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself, so I don't need any of your pity."

"I don't pity you, I respect you. It takes a lot of courage and strength to work around something that should have been a handicap instead of complaining about it. So, wait, if you're a blind earth bender then that means…_you're _Lady Bei Fong?! You're one of Avatar Aang's teachers! But I guess the metal bending should have been my first clue. It was very brave and noble of you to help bring an end to the war."

"Don't call me Lady Bei Fong. Master Toph or just Toph is fine."

Oh great. Not only was she a member of the richest Earth Kingdom family ever, but she is also a master earth bender, the world's first and so far only metal bender, earth bending teacher to the avatar, and helped end the Hundred Year War. How on earth am I going to get her to like someone like me? Well, I did manage to get her to talk to me, and I didn't even think I would even be able to do that. I suppose there is one thing that has a small chance of impressing her…

"Here's my house. It's been nice talkin' to ya, but I gotta go now. Bye."

"Wait, there's one more thing I want to ask you."

She stopped and turned slightly. "What is it?"

"Do you know what Earth Rumble is?"

"Yeah, that's actually one of my favorite things. I'm going to the tournament tonight with my friends."

"Do you want to go with me? I want to show you a surprise. I really like you, Toph and I want to show you I'm cool person. Please?"

She stood there for a minute with her gaze slightly directed toward the ground, wondering whether to say yes or no. Then she slowly walked up to me, tilted her head up, and looked me dead in my eyes. It creeped me out how she could look me in the eye like that.

"One more thing you should know about me, is that I can tell when people are lying, and I can tell that you haven't lied to me once since we left the bath house. So fine, I'll give you one chance. Do you know who Master Katara is?"

"Yeah, I watched one of her water bending performances yesterday."

"Well, she's having tea with the Earth King this afternoon and my friends and I will be leaving for the Earth Rumble when she gets back. After your shift is over, go wait in front of the palace for her. Tell her that I sent you there to have her walk you to our house. Prove that you're telling the truth by telling her that I'm sorry about the Pyro prank last night. She'll know what that means. Understand?"

"Yeah, but wouldn't it be easier if I just came here by myself?"

"If Sokka sees you waiting on the front porch, you probably won't be alive to go to the tournament. You remember Sokka, right? The guy who got in your face last night?"

How could I forget? "Oh yeah, him. Ok, I'll…see you later then. Bye."

"Terran?"

"Yeah?" I turned around to see that Toph's expression had softened a bit.

"Thanks for not making fun of my blindness. You don't know how much that means to me."

She then turned around and walked into her house, leaving me standing there with the biggest, goofiest grin on my face. I did it. I actually did it! I could have exploded into a million pieces from the sheer amount of happiness I was feeling right then and there. I sprinted back to the bath house, remembering Toph's instructions and wondering what Master Katara and the rest of Toph's friends (excluding Sokka) would think of me.

**Toph's POV**

I slowly walked into the house and headed toward the kitchen. While I was outside talking to Terran, I noticed that Katara's vibrations still had yet to appear, and that Sokka and Zuko were now sitting in the kitchen while Suki was doing something in her room and Aang was out back feeding Appa and Cabi. Sokka was the first one to speak.

"Morning Toph. It's ok, you don't worry anymore. Katara decided to let us back inside."

"I was wondering why you two seemed so calm in here. Where is she anyway?"

Zuko turned away from something on the counter and answered. "She already left for the day. I think she's still a little mad though, particularly at me."

"Well, the prank was your idea."

"Hey, we wouldn't be in this situation if you hadn't screwed up."

"Oh, so now it's all **my** fault!"

"Yes, it is. Everything was going great until you-"

"Hey! If you two old ladies are done arguing, I need to talk to Sokka…in private."

Zuko walked out of the house grumbling and went around back to join Aang.

"So Toph, what's on your mind?"

"I need to talk to you about Terran."

"Terran? That guy who was talking to you at the festival last night? I thought I told him to leave you alone. Is he bothering you again?"

"Yes. And no. I ran into him at the Gentle Springs Bath House early this morning and he wanted to walk me home so he could talk to me."

"What?! Did he hurt you? 'Cause if he did, I'll-"

"Calm down Sokka. No, he didn't do anything to me." Sokka's heart rate slowed down, but I could tell he was still agitated.

"What did he talk to you about?"

"He wanted to know my name and when I felt the wind blowing the hair out of my face, he saw that I was blind and-"

"Aha! I knew he was a stuck up asshole. If that bastard thinks he can make fun of my blind friend and get away with it, he's got another thing coming!"

"Well, that's the thing. When he saw I was blind, he didn't seem to care. In fact, he wholeheartedly said that he thought I was a strong person for choosing to work around my blindness instead of complaining about it."

"Toph, he's probably just telling you what you want to hear. All jerks do that."

"If he was, he was really good at it. The whole time I was with him, I didn't detect a single lie and he said that he really liked me."

Sokka was silent for the longest time.

"Sokka?"

"Toph, you know what happens every time some random guy shows any kind of interest in you. They try to act cool and then when they realize that you actually have a brain and that their act won't work, they retaliate in the lowest way possible and it always leaves you in a sour mood. I don't know if you realize, but even though you act like what those guys say doesn't bother you, I can still see how much it actually hurts you under that tough shell." Sokka got off the stool he was sitting on and picked me up in a bear hug. "Please be careful. You have a very…unique…personality that few people can truly appreciate. You're my best friend and I don't want to see you get hurt…not after the way I saw you when your parents kicked you out of their house. I **never** want to see you like that."

It's moments like this when I feel like kicking myself for allowing people to make me feel sappy. I just hope Sokka doesn't start crying. Not only would it bring me close to tears, but then I'd feel somewhat obligated to never let him live it down. Not after all his talk about what's manly and what isn't. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally put me down.

"Sokka, I need you to do something for me."

"Sure, what is it?"

"I need you to help me find out what kind of person he really is. He seems genuine, but I'm still skeptical. He wanted me to go with him to the Earth Rumble tournament and I said he could come with us."

"Ok, but promise me that if he turns out to be a lying jerkass, you and I will tag team him."

"I promise that we'll beat him like he stole something."

Sokka chuckled and ruffled my hair. We grabbed some breakfast and headed out to enjoy the second day of the festival.


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's chapter four. Please review, this is my first ever fic and I really want to know what you think of it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender. Though I would like to own an Appa plushy.**

**Katara's POV**

"That was some really good tea. We'll have to do this again sometime."

"Well, I learned the art of tea-making from the best. "

"Yes. General Iroh has taught you well. If only Firelord Zuko would learn from him too…"

The Earth King and I walked down the front steps of the palace and into the cool evening air.

"Well I need to get going. My friends are waiting for me at the house. Have a good day, your highness."

I bowed to the Earth King and continued walking down the long paved walkway and out the front gates. Once outside the palace grounds, I noticed a boy that had been sitting on the edge of a fountain get up and start walking toward me. He looked nervous and like he had something important to say. Strange. I don't remember seeing him before. He stood at about just under 6 ft and had bright green eyes and shaggy dark brown hair that looked similar to Zuko's hair when it wasn't up in his crown head piece. He had a light tan and a decent build. He was also wearing an olive green sleeveless tunic with cream colored three-quarter length pants and a black belt. I wonder what he wants. He didn't look dangerous, but I nonetheless put myself on guard in case he turned out to be a threat. He walked up to me and bowed.

"Mater Katara?"

"Yes, that's me. Who may I ask are you?"

"My name is Terran. Your friend Toph invited me to come with her and the rest of your group to the Earth Rumble Tournament tonight. She sent me here to ask you to walk me to your house."

What? Why would Toph invite some random person to come to the tournament with us? Something's up. "Ok. Give me one reason why I should believe what you're telling me is true."

"Right. Um…uh…oh yeah. Toph says that she apologizes for the Pyro prank last night. She said you'd know what that means."

Pyro prank? There's no way anyone else would know about that. I guess he really did meet Toph at some point.

"Ok. Follow me; I'm on my way home now."

Relief spread over him and he smiled as he turned to walk along side me.

"So Terran, how did you come to know Toph?"

"I met her last night at the festival after she fought my older brother and his friends and made them leave me and my younger sister alone. I saw her again early this morning at the Gentle Springs Bath House and she let me walk her home so we could talk. That's when she invited me to come to the tournament with you guys."

"Well that was uncharacteristically nice of her."

"I'm just glad that I was able to see her when her friend, Sokka, wasn't around. The first time I met Toph, he ran me off before I could even know her name."

I looked ahead and narrowed my eyes. "Oh he did, did he?"

"Yeah, in fact, that's why Toph wanted you to walk me to your house. She was concerned that Sokka might do something to me if he saw me waiting there."

I thought I told him to stop being so overly protective of Toph. The girl can take care of herself. One of these days, he's going to mess with the wrong person and find himself in a dangerous situation. Then it hit me. There is only one reason Sokka would do something like that. I looked over at Terran and gave him a small knowing smile.

"Terran, do you like Toph as more than just a potential friend?"

He suddenly looked very uncomfortable and his coloring matched the Fire Nation's insignia.

"Well…I…uh…you see…yes."

He said that last word in a nervous, squeaky voice. I softly chuckled and smiled.

"It's ok. I think it's rather cute. Maybe Toph will start acting more like a girl now."

"To tell you the truth, I find her interesting just the way she is. I'm amazed at how confident she is even though she can't see a thing. Toph is a lot different from the girls I normally see."

"Well you seem like a nice person, Terran. I'm sure Toph will eventually like you too. A word of caution though, she's quite a handful and like any earthbender, can be stubborn sometimes."

"That's fine. I'm an earthbender, like her, so I understand. The other parts of her personality may take some getting used to though. But it should be fun getting to know her. That is if she'll still be interested in me after the tournament."

"Just be yourself. And don't worry about Sokka. I'll make sure he doesn't beat you up or anything."

"Thank you, Master Katara."

"Just call me Katara."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Suki's POV**

Aang and I were sitting at the kitchen table playing a game of Pai Sho while waiting for Katara to come back. Who knew Aang was so good at this game? Zuko walked into the house through the front door and Aang turned to look at him.

"Hey Zuko. Katara should be home any minute now."

"Great. Did Sokka and Toph get back yet?"

"They've been in and out of the house all day and they haven't returned from the last time they left." I said as I frowned at the Pai Sho board when I realized that I was close to losing. Again.

Zuko walked over to us and started watching our game.

"Well they need to hurry up. I'm not waiting for them if they aren't here by the time Katara gets home."

Just then, Sokka and Toph spilled into the house giggling like mad, and quickly shut the door behind them. Aang greeted them.

"Hey guys. You-"

"Nothing!" They both quickly said this at the same time while snapping around to face us. Aang, Zuko, and I looked at each other with confused looks. Then I narrowed my eyes and turned to look at Toph and Sokka.

"What have both of you been up to?"

Sokka was the first to speak. "Like we said, nothing."

Zuko looked at them suspiciously. "Yeah right. What have you done now?"

It was Toph's turn to answer. "Can it, Sparky. If anyone asks you about anything having to do with us and cabbages, you guys don't know anything, understand?"

Aang gave them a weird look. "I don't want to know, do I?"

"No, so stop asking questions, Twinkle Toes."

When Katara finally got home and walked through the door, I noticed she wasn't alone. Some guy followed her in. I saw Sokka glare at him. Wait. Is that the guy we met yesterday night?

"Everyone, this is Terran. Toph invited him to come to the tournament with us."

Terran tried to put on a confident appearance, but I could still tell he was nervous. Aang jumped from the stool he was sitting on using airbending and landed right in front of him.

Hi, I'm Aang! Nice to meet you."

"It's an honor to meet you, Avatar Aang."

Katara looked at him and warmly smiled. "No need to be so formal. Any friend of Toph's is a friend of our's, right everyone?" As she said that last sentence, I noticed that she looked directly at Sokka, who was still glaring daggers at Terran. Zuko went over to his and Mai's room and knocked on the door.

"Mai, let's go. We're ready to leave."

She opened the door and followed him out to where we were and looked over at Terran.

"Who's that?"

"This is Toph's new friend, Terran. Come on, we're leaving on Appa." Aang headed through the back door, followed by the rest of us, and everyone loaded up on Appa. Toph was clinging to Sokka's arm as usual.

"So, how do you like being on a flying bison for the first time?"

Terran looked over the side of Appa's saddle and looked over the city of Ba Sing Se. "Well, it has a great view. So Toph, you said that you like going to Earth Rumble tournaments? Who's your favorite fighter? "

Toph smirked at him. "My favorite is the Blind Bandit. It's too bad that she's not allowed to compete any more though. She was forced to retire and was given the title of Legendary Champion a year ago when the managers of Earth Rumble started losing major cash on bets because everyone knew the Blind Bandit would win any match she was in. This is the first one that I've gone to since then. I'm still a little upset that they eliminated my favorite fighter all in the name of profits. If I see those guys, I'm gonna let them know exactly what I think of their stupid decision." Everyone tried to contain their laughter.

"Yeah, it's a real shame. That was the year I became interested in Earth Rumble. I was really looking forward to seeing at least one of her fights. I had heard rumors that 'Blind Bandit' was just a stage name and that she wasn't really blind." We finally couldn't hold it in any more and everyone but Terran started bursting out laughing. Terran looked at us like we were crazy.

"What's so funny?"

"_I am_ the Blind Bandit. And whoever told you that BS about me not really being blind is just embarrassed about trying to defeat a blind person and failing miserably. But some competitors will still seek me out for a duel."

"…Are there any other major surprises I should know about you?"

"Not at the moment. Speaking of surprises, you said you wanted to come with us to show me something. What is it?"

"If I told you it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it?"

Sokka got an angry look on his face. "If it's anything dangerous, so help me I'll-"

Katara stopped him, mid-sentence. "Sokka, that's enough! Terran is our guest, and you will treat him as such, understand?"

Sokka just leaned back against Appa's saddle, grumbling under his breath.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Suki's POV**

We soon landed near the place where the tournament was to be held. The head officials of Ba Sing Se demanded that they hold this year's festival tournament away from the city, due to damages done to the wall by giant flying boulders. We got down from Appa and gave the people our tickets at the entrance. I noticed Terran didn't have a ticket and instead showed them a backstage pass. I wonder what that was all about. We walked over to the seating area and were fortunate enough to have front row seats. Katara leaned over and whispered to me.

"Do you know if there's any way to get Sokka to step away from Toph for a moment?"

"Why? I'm sure Sokka will cool down and relax after a while."

"Let's just say this is more than just a friendly outing for her and Terran."

I looked down the row to see Terran talking to Toph with a goofy smile on his face. For once, I was glad Toph couldn't see. She'd probably laugh at him. I looked around for any excuse to get rid of Sokka for a few minutes. Then I saw my chance.

"Hey Sokka! There's a vendor selling beef jerky and fire gummies!"

"Oh, where?!"

"Waaaay over there." I pointed to a food vendor standing all the way on the other side of the enormous arena. Sokka got up and dashed over, nearly knocking Aang, Katara, and I backwards as he passed in front of us. Katara and I looked down the row to see Toph giggling and Terran staring towards Sokka with a confused look. He then saw us smiling at him and silently thanked us before turning back to Toph.

**Toph's POV**

With Sokka gone for the moment, Terran finally stopped acting like such a wuss. I could tell he was really excited about something as his heart was going a million miles a minute, but in a good way. Sokka finally came back to his seat just before the first match started.

"Stupid vendor. He ran out of beef jerky. But he still had plenty of fire gummies though. Toph, you want any?"

"Sure." Sokka passed me a large bucket filled with the sweet Fire Nation snack. I returned my attention back to the arena as the first two competitors walked out. "The Boulder?! He's still trying to get the championship belt? That guy couldn't bend his way out of a wet paper bag. Although, he might have a small chance now that I'm not allowed to compete anymore."

The official started the match or should I say the one-sided match, as it only lasted for a few minutes, with the Boulder being defeated with one swift move. He's still the same moron I fought back in Gaoling. As the tournament went on, the person who had defeated The Boulder, Grey Stone, continued to win all his matches. I noticed Terran focusing intently on every match. Sokka leaned over and whispered to me.

"What's his deal?"

"I don't know. Maybe he's just really into the tournament."

The final match was about to start, and I was beginning to wonder what surprise Terran wanted to show me. The tournament was almost over and he still hadn't told me what it was yet. I turned my head towards him and noticed his heart rate was getting very excited and nervous.

"Hey, what's this surprise you wanted to show me? I haven't got all night, you know."

"It's coming soon. I need to leave for a moment."

"What, now? You'll miss part of the final match."

"Trust me, I won't miss anything."

I felt him walk away and turn a corner around a side of the arena. What is he doing? An official walked into the center of the arena.

"And now, for the final match, Grey Stone" I felt Grey Stone walk onto the arena and the crowd cheered, "vs the defending champion, Rockslide."

My jaw nearly hit the floor, Sokka choked on a fire gummy, and everyone else gasped as we saw Terran step out onto the arena.

**Sokka's POV**

That kid's the Earth Rumble champion? I don't think he'll be keeping it for long. If he was scared enough of his brother to allow himself to be bullied, then he doesn't stand a chance against Grey Stone. Once I stopped choking, I kicked back and waited for the match to start. This ought to be fun to watch. I looked over at Toph, whose look of shock had now been replaced with a slight frown.

As soon as the match started, Grey Stone fired off a line of jagged rocks at Terran. I was surprised to see him steal control, and redirect the line of rocks right back at his opponent. Grey Stone smashed through them, and then rocked the entire arena with a powerful tremor, catching Terran off guard and momentarily causing him to lose his balance. Grey used this small opportunity to form a rope of dirt, similar to Katara's water whip, and smack Terran in his bare chest with it. I could have sworn I saw a look of worry flicker across Toph's face as Terran was just barely able to stop himself at the last minute from being knocked out of the ring by digging his hands and feet into the ground. Terran shot a nervous glance at Toph, and then looked back at his opponent who was grinning smugly at him. He charged towards Grey and started running circles around him, creating a giant cloud of dust in the process. Then, he stepped back and buried himself up to his neck, and slowly started to rise back up. I almost choked on another fire gummy when I saw the move he was trying to pull off. As Terran rose out of the ground, I saw that he had covered himself in so much rock, that when he was completely out of the ground, he looked like a giant 8 ft tall rock human with a tiny head. I looked at Toph, who was smirking and looking very pleased. Grey cleared the dust cloud and looked up at Terran in shock. In an attempt to shake the rocks loose, Grey sent out an earthquake so powerful, even the audience was well shaken up. Of course, this had absolutely no effect on his intended target. Terran raised a large earthen hand and swiped at Grey, then he smashed another massive fist into ground, setting off a huge wave of earth that easily bowled Grey Stone out of the arena.

"The winner and still champion, Rockslide!"

The crowd went wild as Terran released the rocks from his hold and was handed his championship belt.

**Toph's POV**

As soon as Terran walked out of the arena, we all rushed over to congratulate him, with Sokka trailing behind us. Aang reached him first with airbending.

"That was incredible! Where'd you learn to do that?"

"My dad taught me and my siblings before he left to fight in the war. Then my mom started teaching us. But that move you all saw was something I taught myself." I felt him turn to me. "But I don't think I'll ever be quite as good as the previous champion. So what did you think of my surprise?"

I punched him square on his shoulder, and then crossed my arms and looked up at where I assumed his eyes were. "You're damn right you won't ever be as good as me. But I guess that was pretty awesome. You might be able to keep up with me."

"So you liked it?!" I could hear the excitement in his voice. To tell you the truth, I thought it was impressive. But being who I was, I wasn't going to let him know that. I still had a reputation to maintain.

"It was ok. I guess you can hang out with me if you still want to. But don't think that this means we're together or anything, got it? I haven't decided that yet."

I could practically hear his smile. "Fair enough."

**Katara's POV**

Mai yawned and spoke in her usual monotone voice, "Let's get going. I'm tired and it's getting late."

As we followed Aang back to Appa, I saw Suki rush behind me, grab Sokka's ear and start pulling him with her as she walked ahead of me. I couldn't help but laugh at the sight, and I could hear Toph and even Terran laughing behind me.

"But Suki, I was just telling him how things were going to be. Ow! Let go of my ear, woman!"

"I'll let go only if you stay in front of me."

"Ok ok! I promise, just let go!" Suki let go and continued to glare at him as she motioned for him to turn around and start walking.

I turned my head and saw Terran and Toph talking quietly. I tried to stop myself from giggling when I saw Terran reach over and hold Toph's hand. She blushed bright red and donned an annoyed look before socking him in his shoulder and telling him not to push his luck. He smirked and lightly shoved her. She looked at him and playfully shoved him back, triggering a light-hearted shoving war. Those two are going to get along just fine.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Toph's POV**

"So will you come with me?"

"Let me get this straight. You want me to come with you to a volcano that's rumored to have precious stones embedded beneath the surface."

"It's not a rumor. I've been there before and I can tell you it's true."

"What's going on over here?"

Back at the house, Terran was telling me about a volcano north of Ba Sing Se that has various precious stones within it and that he had a way of safely getting one. Sokka and Aang walked over to us.

"What's this I hear about a volcano? Terran you'd better not be leading her into something dangerous."

"It's not dangerous, at least not for me. Don't worry, I'll make sure nothing happens."

"I'm going with you to make sure. And why would you even want to go near a volcano?"

"There's one north of here that has precious stones just beneath its rocky surface. I've been there before."

Aang spoke up. "Isn't that just a myth? And besides, that volcano might be dormant, but using earthbending to dig into its surface could disrupt something."

"Actually, I can tell he's not lying about anything. And I want to see how he can make it safe for himself to dig into a volcano. This could be a useful technique for tunneling into dangerous areas."

"Hmm. You have a point. Alright count me in. We can take Appa."

I felt Katara walk into the room. "Are you guys going somewhere tomorrow? If so, be back in time to get ready for the party that night. And Sokka, Toph, I don't want you two drinking this time."

Sokka tensed up when she said this. Frankly, I wasn't too happy about it either. "Aw, come on Katara. Toph and I never drink at that party to the point of being drunk."

"Still, this party is a formal event, and the two of you have come close to doing stupid things at it, even when you're only slightly buzzed. So no alcohol this time. Terran, would like to come with us? Toph still needs an escort."

"Sure, I can find something to wear."

"What?! I don't need an escort. I've been going to that party every year by myself and no one ever had a problem with it."

"I don't want to hear it Toph. The only reason we let you go without an escort is because you would scare off anyone we would get for you. Now that we have one who's not going anywhere, you will be going with an escort like the rest of us. Besides, we may not mind, but the rest of the people there do.

"Since when do I give a damn about what other people think? Those people can all take their opinions and shove them-"

"Toph, that's enough. Terran is your escort and you will not be touching any alcohol. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, **mother.**" Someone just kill me, now.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you, Liooness, for the review. I tried to make it clearer as to who's speaking. To everyone else who reads this story, please review. Multiple opinions will make me happy. Here's chapter 5. Enjoy.**

**Aang: When am I going to get a POV? It's been 4 chapters, and I still haven't gotten one! Everyone else got one.**

**Jellydonut: Mai hasn't had a POV yet either. It's not like you're the only one.**

**Aang: But I'm the avatar! Don't I get one? (-gives pitiful look-)**

**Jellydonut: (-sighs-) Fine, just stop looking at me like that. Say the disclaimer and I'll let you have a POV.**

**Aang: WOO! The writer of this story does not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. This story is fan made and is purely for entertainment purposes, however unfair it may be with POVs. **

**Jellydonut: Don't push it!**

**Sokka's POV**

"Hey Snoozles! Want a mud pie?!"

I turned around and my face was greeted with a decent amount of mud that Toph had thrown. Grinning, I wiped the mud off my face and hurled another mud ball at her as I heard Suki's annoyed voice calling behind me.

"Knock it off you two! Are you guys going to help me pick these berries or not? Sokka?"

I turned around to look at her. "Hey, I said we would help you, and we did. Toph and I located the berry bushes, didn't we? And Toph even brought Cabi to help carry the berries." I pointed over to the badgermole, who was joyfully rolling around in the shallow mud pit Toph and I were in.

"Sokka, why are you even throwing mud? You're getting filthy." Suki may be a tough warrior, but one of her biggest pet peeves is mud. The good and filthy kind, not the kind used in those fancy spa places.

"It's just mud, Suki. It's not going to hurt anyone, and Toph can just bend the mud off, right Toph?...Toph?"

I turned around to see that Toph had seemingly disappeared from the mud pit. I was starting to get worried when she popped up behind me and stuffed a big handful of the gooey mess down the back of my shirt, before pushing me face down in the mud pit. I got back up and turned back around to see that Toph had disappeared again and Suki shaking her head disapprovingly at our antics.

"The two of you are so weird." She then turned back to what she was doing.

Earlier, Katara had asked for me and Suki to go out and get some purple sugar berries in the woods for the pies she was going to enter into the festival baking contest, claiming that we owed her for the prank we pulled on her. She had also demanded that Toph and Zuko help her bake at least some of the pies. Toph, not wanting to be stuck inside with Katara, had managed to slip out the door before Katara could say anything. Toph and I got distracted from berry picking when Cabi had found the large mud pit we were currently in. Of course, to Toph and I, mud pits mean only one thing: good old fashion mud fights. I stood still with mud in my hand, waiting for Toph to appear again.

"Come on, Toph. This is border-line cheating."

As if to answer me, Cabi got up, walked a few steps, and stomped her massive paw on the ground, causing Toph to pop out of it. Toph got up and stared in disbelief at Cabi.

"Cabi, you're supposed to be on my side!"

Before Toph could say or do anything else, I took the opening and tackled her to the ground and held her arms to keep them from moving.

"Get off, Snoozles!"

"Why don't you have a tasty mud pie first?"

"You wouldn't-"

I scooped up a handful of mud and rubbed it in her face. Toph swung her foot up and caught me in my right side. Yet another bruise to add to the collection. Then she reached up and grabbed the small tuft of hair on my chin and pulled. Hard.

"OWWW! Toph, that's my beard, my manly beard! Ow! Stop, you're pulling the hair out!"

Toph smirked and started laughing. "You call that a beard? Feels more like peach fuzz to me."

"Oh, so you think this is funny? Alright squirt, I'll give you something to laugh about." Toph tried to crawl away from me, but I drug her back over and tickled her till she was in tears. Suki started calling us again.

"Guys, I mean it. We need to get these berries back to Katara before we end up sleeping outside again."

"Alright, alright. We'll be there in a minute." I said as I momentarily turned my attention away from Toph. Big mistake. Toph tackled me from behind and twisted my arm behind my back, starting a wrestling match.

I saw Suki back away from the mud pit as she dodged the mud splashes. "Hey, watch it! You two almost got mud on me. Get out of that filthy mud pit and start helping."

Toph got up and bended the mud off herself. "Fine. Cabi come here."

Cabi walked over and Toph removed the mud that was caked on her fur before cleaning the mud off of me. We finished filling Katara's containers with the purple sugar berries, strapped them onto Cabi, and headed back to the house. Half way between the woods and Ba Sing Se's outer wall, Appa landed in front of us, and I saw Aang and Terran get down and run over to us. Aang happily greeted Cabi once Toph pulled back on her reins to stop her and jumped down, while Terran just stared in awe. I slid off of Cabi and walked up beside Toph. Aang started waving a map at us.

"You guys ready to go? Terran brought a map that will lead us straight to the volcano."

I looked over at Terran, who was still staring at Cabi. "Yeah we're ready. What's wrong Terran? Cabi won't hurt you if you're not planning on doing anything inappropriate to Toph."

Toph walked over to him and smirked. "Don't worry, Cabi won't bite. You aren't a bad person, are you? Because Cabi can tell when people are being shady."

"No."

"Then come on and say hello."

Smiling, Toph pushed a reluctant Terran towards Cabi. Terran flinched as Cabi started sniffing him. She then stopped and "stared" at him for a while with her unseeing eyes (I swear it's like she can look right into your soul or something) and then suddenly tackled him to the ground, licking his face. Toph looked down at him, grinning, and spoke in a sickeningly sweet voice.

"Awww, that's so adowable. She wuvs you."

"I've noticed." Terran finally managed to push Cabi's face away from him. Toph grabbed the reins and handed them to Suki.

"Sorry Suki, but Sokka and I are outta here."

"Now? Fine, but be back to get ready for the party tonight."

Me, Toph, Aang, and Terran all climbed up on Appa and started flying towards the volcano in question.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Toph's POV**

I felt a gust of wind in the saddle as Aang jumped from Appa's head and I heard paper rustling.

"Ok, according to this map, the volcano is about 40 miles north east."

I felt Sokka tear his arm away from me as he grabbed the map. "40 miles?! Terran, you walked 40 miles for a rumor?!"

"I'm a very curious person. And I didn't walk; I used one of my family's ostrich horses. Plus, the rumor wasn't the only reason I went there. I had a theory I had been thinking about for years, and I saw my chance to test it out."

More rustling of paper in front of me indicated that Aang took the map back. "A theory? What kind of theory?"

"Once again that is a surprise, though I can tell you that it will be extremely helpful."

"Ok. We should be there in about an hour." Aang said before jumping back onto Appa's head.

We flew in silence for a while until I couldn't stand it anymore. I turned in Terran's direction across from where Sokka and I were sitting and smirked. "So Terran, what do you think of Cabi?"

"She's kind of cute…when she doesn't tackle you. Is she yours?"

"Yep."

"How did you get her?"

I felt a brief wave of depression as I remembered that bitter-sweet moment. After thinking for a moment, I answered in a softer, quieter voice than I intended. "It's a long story and I don't want to talk about it." I could feel Sokka tense up in anger beside me, and I put my hand on his shoulder, telling him it was ok.

"I'm sorry. Maybe we could talk about something else. Umm…may I ask how you "see" the world around you?"

"I suppose I could tell you now. I see the same way Cabi does. I use earthbending to sense vibrations in anything made of earth or metal. I can sense things from up to a mile away."

"Woah. So, you can "see" things like peoples' heartbeats or look inside buildings without going in them?"

"Yep. Mostly using my feet, which means they are very sensitive, so no touchie."

Sokka tensed up again. "Yeah, and she can detect lies too, so don't think you can get away with anything."

"She already told me, and I have nothing to hide."

Ok, in that case, you wouldn't mind telling us about yourself, would you?"

"Not at all."

"And just so we can trust what you say, Toph is going to make sure you stick to the truth."

I crawled across Appa's saddle to where Terran was sitting and latched onto his arm. I felt him tense up due to a normal nervous reaction then settle back down as Sokka asked him a question.

"Ok, Terran, let's start with how old you are and what your family is like."

"To answer the first question, I'm 17. As for the second question, my mother's name is Maya and my father's name was San Do. You've already met my older brother Roan and my little sister Tao. When we were little, my father took great pride in all of his children and spent every evening after work playing with us and teaching us how to earthbend. My parents saw how much I liked to read and would make trips over to the book store and buy me books on anything I wanted, and if they couldn't find it there, dad would write a letter to his friend, professor Talme at Ba Sing Se University and she would sell him the book I wanted."

I could tell Sokka was a bit skeptical. "Toph?"

"His story is clear so far."

I heard Sokka give an annoyed grunt and continue. "Books from a book store are pretty cheap, but how did your parents afford books from Ba Sing Se University?"

"My parents owned and ran a very successful restaurant in my home town. My mom is an excellent chef and my dad was a great business man. They would give me and my siblings lessons on economics and cooking so that we would on one day be able to run the restaurant on our own, though Tao was too little at the time to learn about business so most of her lessons were about cooking. Roan hated the cooking lessons because he thought it was women's work, and would often tease me for learning so fast."

I grew annoyed at the mention of Roan's attitude toward cooking lessons. "So your brother has always been a jerk?"

"Yeah. He would bully and tease me because he picked up earthbending at a faster rate than I did. And he would call me names like 'no bending book worm' for reading so much. But I think he was just jealous that I knew more about the world around me because of my book obsession. I learned economics so much faster than him, that dad thought it would be better if he taught me separately."

I turned to look at where I assumed his eyes were. "Just so you know, your brother may have learned earthbending faster, but you learned it better. I can tell simply from the way you walk. Plus, you concentrate more."

Sokka cut in with another question. "So if your family had such a great life, why do you live in Ba Sing Se?"

Terran's body sagged against the saddle and he gave a heavy sigh. "For the longest time, my town was fortunate enough to avoid the hardships of the war. But one night, about two weeks after Tao's fifth birthday, there was a raid. The Fire Nation army occupied our town and took over all the resources and businesses, including the family restaurant. Dad and the other adult benders put up a fight, but were forced to leave the town. Since they needed workers, the soldiers threatened that if anyone left the town, we would face severe punishment. Just before he left, dad promised that once he found a suitable place for us to live, he would come back for us. But a few months later, one of the people who were forced to leave with him snuck back into the town to deliver a message stating that dad was killed in a Fire Nation ambush. When the war ended a little over a year later, the soldiers said we were free to leave the town but refused to give back the businesses to their original owners. My mom wanted to move us to Ba Sing Se to start over, but we didn't have enough money. Later, I heard that there was going to be an Earth Rumble tournament in a nearby town called Gaoling that was offering prize money. So I went there, won the tournament, and we were able to move here. We've been living here for a few months now."

Sokka's voice snapped me out of my deep concentration. "Toph?"

I raised my eyebrows in amazement. "It's all true. Every word."

I heard Sokka sigh. "I'll admit, Terran, you're a strong person."

Just then, Aang's voice rang out over the wind rushing past us. "Guys, we're here! I can see the volcano!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Aang's POV**

We landed a safe distance away, and headed toward the volcano. It was surrounded by a large lake of lava, but otherwise felt stable. I looked curiously at Terran.

"So, how did you safely cross the lava to get to the volcano?"

Terran looked at me and smirked. "Have you ever thought about lava? Like really thought about it?"

Scratching the back of my head, I answered. "I know that it's really hot and dangerous."

Sokka spoke up in sarcastic tone. "Yeah, so what did you do to avoid the lava, jump over it?"

Terran's smirk only grew slightly bigger when he answered. "No. When I was younger, I read a book about geology and there was a section on volcanoes. It said that even though volcanic eruptions destroyed a lot of things, they also formed new land once the lava cooled. This got me thinking about the cheese my mother used to make dinner that day. When she exposed it to heat, the cheese melted into a liquid form. Then when it cooled, it turned back into solid cheese. I figured that if lava formed earth when it cooled, then lava must be earth in its liquid form, and should therefore be possible for an earthbender to bend."

I saw Toph's eyes widen in surprise. "Wow, I never thought of it that way."

Sokka just furrowed his brow in skepticism. "But lava is extremely hot. If it is bendable, then wouldn't it be more in the realm of firebending? Besides, it's a liquid."

"I thought about that, and noticed that lava behaved very similar to water. It flows and can form lakes and rivers. So, I theorized that if waterbending moves were applied to earthbending, then it should be possible for lava to be manipulated by an earthbender. So I asked my dad for books on northern and southern waterbending styles and studied them and practiced when Roan wasn't around. When I moved here and heard the rumors about this volcano, I saw the chance to finally test out my theory. Observe."

Toph walked over to me and whispered. "Could you tell me what's happening? Lava is even more fuzzy and difficult for me to see than sand."

I watched as Terran walked up to the edge of the lava lake and started doing some simple waterbending moves. My jaw almost fell off when I saw a stream of lava rise up and start molding into various shapes between Terran's hands, complying with his will.

"Toph, I can't believe it! He's actually bending the lava!"

I tore my eyes from Terran for a moment to see that Toph's eyes were now the size of dinner plates, and Sokka looked about ready to fall over. I snapped my attention back as Terran called to us.

"Here's something I saw Katara doing in her performance at the festival. You guys might want to step back, this is the first time I'm trying this move. "

I watched Terran rather awkwardly attempt to do the octopus move. It left much to be desired, but wasn't bad for his first try. I walked over and corrected his stance, which gave him better control over each tentacle. He tried one out by making it reach out into the lava lake and pull it back out with a large ball of lava attached to the end of it. He took aim and hurled the lava ball at a piece of rock sticking out of the side of the volcano, knocking it clean off before bending the rest of the lava back into the lake and looking at Toph.

"Is there any particular gem stone that you like?"

" Not really. They all look the same to same to me."

This was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. "Um, Terran? If there are any blue ones in there, could you get one for me?" Toph started snickering and Sokka faked throwing up.

"Sure Aang, you can even come with me to pick one out."

Terran carved a large rocky platform out of the ground and I jumped on. He then brought the lava forward, washing us into the lake and formed a wave that carried us over to the volcano. Once there, Terran attached the platform to the base, and we started climbing. I closed my eyes and focused on the vibrations coming from underground and pointed to my left.

"There's a large cluster of gem stones over there."

"How do you know?"

"Toph is my earthbending teacher."

He smiled and followed me over to the spot I had pointed out. He slowly and carefully carved a decent sized hole three feet into the rocky surface, revealing a bed of gem stones of many shapes and sizes.

"Wow! There's gotta be, like, a hundred stones here! And from what I can feel, there are hundreds more scattered around this volcano!"

"Hey Aang, if you said that this volcano is dormant, then why is there a large lake of lava surrounding it? It certainly doesn't look dormant."

"Well, I guess I shouldn't have used the word dormant. What I meant was this volcano hasn't had any major eruptions for a long time. But lava will still bubble up over the top occasionally. So after this, please don't tell anyone else about this. This area is still very dangerous, and people constantly digging here could cause something."

"Don't worry, I wasn't going to."

Terran spotted a large light green gem with swirls of yellow and plucked it out while I grabbed a beautiful deep blue one with swirls of lighter blue that caught the sun's rays when I held it up. I closed the hole, got back on the platform and headed back toward Toph and Sokka. When we reached them, Terran ran over to show Toph the stone he got for her, which she tried her bending on. I looked over at Sokka, who was watching them too. Was it just me or did he look slightly hurt when Toph bended the gem stone into a head band and put it in place of the one she was wearing? When I walked up to ask him what was wrong, I heard him mumbling something to himself about her meteorite bracelet being way better.

"Sokka, you know she still carries that piece of meteorite where ever she goes, right?"

"Huh, what?" Sokka jumped a little in surprise.

"I said that Toph still carries that piece of meteorite you gave her. It's like it's permanently attached to her now."

"I know that. But I still can't help but feel a small knot in my stomach." He looked back over at Terran, who appeared to be trying to convince Toph to do something. I figured I should try to take Sokka's mind off the situation.

"Sokka, do you want to get something for Suki? I think she'd notice and grill you if Terran and I came back with gem stones and you didn't."

Sokka's face fell into a frown and for a moment looked like he remembered something not too pleasant.

"Yeah, that sounds like a safe- err, good idea."

"Great! Come on, I'll fly you over." I tapped my staff on the ground to turn it into a glider, but before I took off, Toph walked over to us.

"Do you guys mind staying a little while longer? Eager Beaver over here wants to take me lava surfing."

"Sure Toph. In fact, I was going to fly Sokka over to the volcano."

Terran walked over to Toph and started pulling her to the edge of the lava lake. Sokka shot him a warning glare.

"Terran, you'd better not drop her."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure nothing happens."

Terran formed a smaller platform than the one I was on, and bended a wave to carry them out.

**Terran's POV**

"Ok, Toph. Just hold to me and you'll be fine."

I looked down in front of me at Toph, who was standing there with a look of uneasiness about her. She slowly wrapped her arms around my waist. I anchored our feet to the platform and began bending a wave for us to ride on. As soon as the platform rose up with the lava, Toph's grip became bone-crushing.

"Toph…ack…relax…please!"

"Sorry. It's just that the only thing I can "see" out here is whatever is on this platform."

Toph's grip loosened enough for me to actually breathe, but I still couldn't help but smile at her.

"Just relax and try not to think about it. You know, I heard that the Blind Bandit wasn't afraid of anything."

"I'm **not** afraid. I'm just…concerned about falling in." But her face betrayed her words.

"Don't worry I won't drop you, but you if want me to take you back to land, don't be afraid to say so."

I made the wave of lava bigger and started surfing on it. I went slow at first to settle Toph's nerves, and once I saw her relax and maybe even start to enjoy it, I picked up speed.

"This is actually…kind of fun. Can you do any tricks?"

"I know how to do a few."

I made the wave we were riding on launch the platform into the air and did a complete turn in midair before landing back on the wave. Then I formed the wave into a series of loops, twists, and sharp turns for us to ride through. I looked down at Toph, who was now laughing as I guided the platform through the loops and turns at high speeds. When we got back to land, Sokka and Aang were already there, waiting for us. Sokka was holding a bright yellow gem stone, and still looking distrustfully at me.

"She'd better not have gotten hurt."

Before I could say anything, Toph cut her way in.

"Relax Snoozles, I'm fine. That was so cool! Aang, you have to learn how to do that!"

Aang looked expectantly at me.

"I'd be happy to teach you if you want. But be warned; it's more difficult than it looks. You have to move like a waterbender while still keeping the attitude and essence of an earthbender."

"You could come back to the Fire Nation with us and teach me as long as it's ok with your family. There are lots of volcanoes to pick from and I don't want to keep coming back here, or people might get suspicious, especially with the rumors surrounding this volcano. And I'll talk with Zuko about giving your family's restaurant back to your mom."

"You heard that?"

Aang blushed a little and rubbed the back of his head. "I was sort of listening in on you guys."

"That's ok. But if you could get my parents' restaurant back, that would be so great. My mom really misses that place."

"So you'll come with us?" Aang's expression changed to a sly one. "You'll get to be near Toph."

I glanced over at Toph, who was trying to hide her bright red cheeks by turning her head away from me.

"I'll talk with my mom, but I'm sure she'll be fine with it, especially if she can move back to our old town."

Sokka looked up at the sky. "Guys, it's getting late, we need to head back home and get ready for the party."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Toph's POV**

We dropped Terran off at his house. His mom came outside to meet us, and was gushing about how cute it was that her son finally had a girlfriend despite my repeated attempts to tell her otherwise. Though I did find it hilarious when she said that her baby boy was growing up and that it seemed like just yesterday that he was smearing moon peach sauce all over his face. And I thought _my_ parents were embarrassing.

When we got back to our house, I could feel the vibrations of Katara and Suki moving around in Katara's room. Hopefully this year, they didn't get me an obscenely frilly dress or one that made it difficult for me to breathe. I just prayed that it was long enough to cover my feet so I wouldn't have to wear shoes. I was already looking at an alcohol-free night. The last thing I needed was the added stress of uncomfortable shoes making me blind.


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you to the people who reviewed. Chapter 6 is now up. Updates will be coming a lot slower now that college is about to start. But I will type as much as possible whenever I can. Don't forget to review.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of its characters. **

**Mai's POV**

It was about an hour before we planned to leave for the World Festival Peace Celebration where everyone comes together to celebrate on the anniversary of the end of the 100 year war and to remember those who gave their lives. Toph, though she didn't look like she was enjoying it, was being relatively calm about allowing me, Suki, and Katara to do her hair and makeup. But I suppose that's because I had convinced Suki and Katara to let me pick Toph's dress. Seriously, those two can get some of the most ridiculous formal wear for her.

"OW! Katara, watch it with that brush! You poked my eye!"

"Well, maybe if you would hold still, that won't happen. Just a few more seconds and I'll be done with your eye shadow." Once finished, Katara stepped back to admire her work. "There, you look pretty."

Toph just blankly stared ahead. "I still don't know what the point is if I can't see it."

"Not another word, Toph. Other people can see you. Just be happy that since Mai got you a floor length dress, we're letting you go barefoot this time. Mai, are you almost done?"

"Yeah, just give me a few more minutes." I finished brushing Toph's fluffy mass of hair and put it in a half up half down style. She then got up and put on a green and yellow hair band that was made entirely out of gem stone. I looked at her with a tiny smirk and spoke in my usual dull tone.

"Did your boyfriend give that to you?"

Toph blushed a light pink color and glared at a spot slightly to left of my head. "For the last time, Terran is **not **my boyfriend! I don't like him that way."

Suki snickered. "Oh really? Then why are you blushing? Besides, you two look so cute together." Suki then got a sly look on her face. "Plus you also claimed to not have a crush on Sokka."

Toph's face turned crimson as she and I became completely silent and Katara and Suki burst out into giggles.

"It's ok, Toph. I can tell that you're over it now, but do you really think I ignored that little thanks-for-saving-me incident in the Serpant's Pass?"

Katara stopped giggling enough to say something. "Yeah, and remember that time Sokka left to train with Master Piando? You were blushing when you pretended to not care about him leaving, just like you were blushing a few seconds ago when you denied liking Terran as anything more than a friend. Face it Toph, you like Terran more than you'll admit."

For a moment, Toph looked embarrassed and turned redder if that was even possible before scowling and stomping out of Katara's room. Suki suddenly looked guilty.

"Is she going to be ok?"

Katara didn't look too concerned as she put Toph's make-up away and got out her own. "Toph always puts up a tough exterior. She'll calm down when she realizes that we're right."

I was about to say something when I heard Zuko groan in frustration about something. Excusing myself, I walked out to the kitchen to find Zuko sitting at the table with Aang and Sokka, frowning over a bunch of papers.

"Zuko, what's wrong?" I walked up behind him and looked at the papers.

Zuko glanced up at me and spoke in a low voice. "When we get back to the Fire Nation, I have to explain to the financial councilmen why the country's general population isn't doing so well despite increased trade with the other nations. I've been looking at this problem for 3 weeks, and I don't know how much more I can take. These councilmen have been breathing down my neck, and if I don't have an answer for them, there's going to be a lot of unhappy people that I don't want to deal with!"

By the time he finished, my husband looked about ready to burn down the house.

"Zuko, take a deep breath, remember your anger management lessons, and calm down. Why don't you step away from that for a while before you go insane."

"Quit being a wuss and go help them."

"I'm not being a wuss, I just don't want to get involved in that."

We all turned around to see Toph trying to pull Terran up from the couch. I looked at the robes he was wearing and noted that at least he won't stick out like a sore thumb at the party.

"Toph, what are you doing?" Aang asked as he set down some records.

Toph stopped pulling on Terran's arm and answered. "Book Worm here might be able to help you since he knows a lot about economics."

I looked skeptically at him. "Is this true?"

"It is, but I've never dealt with a problem on this kind of scale."

Zuko held up one of the papers. "Can you look at it anyway?"

"I guess." Terran took a seat next to Zuko. "You said it was a problem with the population?"

"Yeah, the standard of living to be exact. I've been getting several complaints about it, and I've asked some people to go and investigate it for me. Along with their reports, I've also gathered various records from all the businesses in the Fire Nation."

Terran looked at all the papers spread out over the table. After 45 minutes of shuffling through numerous scrolls and crunching numbers, Terran and Zuko came up with a plan that included passing some new laws and bringing a few particularly powerful merchants under control.

Relief spread over Zuko as we cleared the table and organized the scrolls back into neat stacks. "Have you considered doing this for a living? This plan won't work unless I have someone to keep tabs on things. I know you're not used to dealing with problems this big, but perhaps you'd be interested. It would be temporary at first, though. I have to be sure I can trust the people I put on my team of advisors. Oh, and Aang told me about what happened to your family's restaurant. I'll see to it that it's given back, provided that you can show ownership papers."

Terran looked thoughtful for a moment. "No problem. And I'll give that advisor thing a try."

Aang jumped up in excitement. "Cool! Now you have the chance to hang with us permanently."

Toph, who had been standing next to Terran, lightly punched his shoulder and smirked. "Nice job, Book Worm."

Rubbing the punched spot, Terran looked at her. "Why do you keep calling me Book Worm?"

I grabbed some scrolls to take back to my room. "She has a nickname for all us. Consider it a term of endearment."

Toph casually waved her hand at the door. "Someone get the door, it's the carriage driver."

A minute later, there was knocking and Sokka got up, smiling and lightly pushing Toph on his way over to answer the door. "Show off."

I called Suki and Katara, telling them that the carriage was here. Just before we left, Katara gave Suki and Terran specific instructions to not let Sokka and Toph get near any alcohol. Behind Katara's back, Toph put on her best cute and innocent act to convince her escort to reconsider. Terran just smiled at her and said that unfortunately, he could tell that Katara was much more frightening than she was. He promised her that it wouldn't be so bad and led her to the carriage on his arm.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Toph's POV**

At the party, which was being held in the Earth King's enormous gardens, I could tell it was going to be the same old thing. People crowding us, Aang's fan-girls harassing him, Katara beating them off with a stick, and of course, stuffy officials and noblemen complaining about how 'unrefined' I am. Fortunately, this year, one thing they couldn't complain about was me not having an escort. But not all the guests were so uptight. Speaking of which, I heard a familiar laughing/snorting heading my way.

"Bumi!" I practically jumped into his arms and he enveloped me in a hug. That crazy old man has become somewhat of a grandfather to me, just like Iroh has.

"Toph! It is so good to see you. How long has it been? Three years now? My, you've grown."

"I've probably only grown, like, one inch. Let's face it; I'm destined to be short."

"What I meant was, you've grown into a lovely young lady. So, are you still wreaking mayhem and thinking like a mad genius?"

I smiled sweetly at him. Bumi helped me develop some insane bending stunts. It did wonders for my prank-loving side too. "Yes sir. There are still people asking questions about a certain cabbage incident."

Bumi laughed even harder. "That's my girl." I felt Terran walk up behind me. "Well, now who do we have here? What's your name, young man?"

"My name is Terran, your highness. Toph is with me."

When he started laughing again, I knew what was coming next. "I knew it was going to happen sooner or later. How has been treating you, Toph? Has he been a gentleman?"

I sighed. "Yes, but he's not my boyfriend. Terran is just a friend."

I could tell Bumi was shifting his gaze between me and Terran. "Well, if you say so. But don't pass him up just yet. He seems well mannered. Enjoy the party."

I felt Bumi wander off in some random direction. As I focused my attention on my surroundings, I heard Katara's voice, and from the sound of it, she wasn't happy. As I listened closer, I almost burst out laughing. Pulling on Terran's arm, I pointed in the direction of Katara's voice. We struggled to keep our snickering as discrete as possible as we heard Katara fussing at a certain waterbending student of hers for skipping her lesson and "engaging in delinquent activities". Serves that girl right.

Terran and I wandered around and stopped every now and then to chat with people I had met while traveling with Aang, Sokka, Katara, and later, Zuko. Soon we found ourselves getting food from the buffet table and Terran made sure to steer me away from the wine and towards the punch bowl. This is going to be a looong night.

**Terran's POV**

I found us a table to sit at and we started eating. The whole time I was with Toph, I was struggling to keep from staring at her, lest she somehow realize what I was doing. She never struck me as someone who enjoys dressing up, but certainly looked gorgeous when she did. Toph was wearing a beautiful, sleek, floor length silk dress. It was mostly light yellow with long sleeves and green trimming around the bottom edge and the edges of the sleeves. It also had what looked like green vines embroidered on the bottom half and winding around the sleeves. I had heard Toph's protests to Suki, Katara, and Mai wanting to put makeup on her and style her hair, but I'm glad she let them. I was so happy when I saw that she was wearing the gem stone I gave her in the form of a head band. Luckily, I was able to buy a nice dark green and gold outfit with some of the money I won from the festival Earth Rumble tournament, so it actually looked like we belonged together. I tried to start a conversation to cool my nerves.

"Hey Toph, I was thinking. How bad do you think Lin's punishment will be?"

Toph look up from her bowl of noodles. "Let's see. She took part in harassing you, literally threw a little girl several feet, and challenged and threatened one of the avatar's teachers and close personal friend. I'd say pretty bad, especially since Katara has no patience for unruly behavior from her students. But I have a question for you. If you're such a great bender, why were you so easily bullied by your brother? You should be good enough to handle him on your own."

"I was in a narrow space and my little sister was there. I didn't want her getting hurt, but I guess that didn't turn out so well. Besides, Roan is my brother and I don't think I could hurt him no matter what he does."

Toph looked questioningly at me. It's amazing how many emotions she can display despite being blind. "But he totally disrespects you and your sister. You need to stop being so nice all the time, and learn how to tell people that you're not going to take their crap, no matter who they are. You need to grow a stronger spine."

I cringed as she told me this. It wasn't the first time someone confronted me about my passive attitude. My sister had been complaining about it for a long time. Maybe it was time for a change. I noticed Toph beginning to get restless and agitated.

"What's wrong, Toph?"

"Don't look, but a very annoying and snobbish person is headed this way."

"Who?"

Toph groaned and slouched into her chair. "His name is Sonji. My parents tired to force me to marry him so our families' businesses would be connected. To make a long story short, I refused and told him to fuck off and die, in those exact words, slammed him into the side of my parents' house with earthbending and then launched him at least 15 feet in the air, judging from how long it took him to hit the ground."

I looked incredulously at her. "You really said and did that to him?! Isn't that a bit…rude? It's not his fault you didn't want to marry him."

Toph just continued eating. "If you knew what kind of person Sonji is, you would agree with what I did. That guy kept treating me like I was stupid and acting like he was doing me and my family a favor by agreeing to marry, and I quote, 'a blind and weak girl that no one would want'. He's lucky I didn't bury his ass ten feet under."

"Which one is he?"

"He's the person about ten feet in front of us walking this way with some girl on his arm."

I searched the area in front of me and noticed a young guy who looked to be about 20 walking straight for us. He had a pretty girl holding on his arm who looked just as stuck up as he did. When they reached us, he and the girl took a seat directly across the table from me and Toph. We both set our chopsticks down and Toph glared at Sonji, who looked at me with arrogance before settling his eyes on Toph and smirking.

"Toph Bei Fong, what a surprise. So, who are you living with now? It's not like you live at home anymore."

Toph glared harder. "That's none of your damn business."

Sonji chuckled and shook his head. "I see you still have a temper. So un-ladylike. But why should I expect anything better from a blind and ill-mannered runt who's mouth is just as filthy as the dust she's usually covered in. So who is this? Your escort?"

I could see that Toph was trying so hard to not leap across the table at him. Frankly, I wasn't too fond of him either and I glared. However, Toph managed to calm herself and smirk. "Yes, now why don't you and your slut go bother someone else?"

Sonji's date glared at Toph, who just continued to smirk. Sonji frowned and turned his attention to me. "You seem like a reasonable man. Tell me, how did you end up being escort to such a disrespectful girl? Surely someone paid you."

I pulled on Toph's hand to leave, but she shook her head and pointed toward Sonji.

"Don't let him talk that way about me and stop being such a pushover. I'm surprised you're even an earthbender." She whispered.

I sighed. I could see I wasn't going to get out this anytime soon. "I wasn't paid by anyone; I chose to be her escort. And how dare you talk that way about her in front of me, or even at all."

Sonji looked from me to Toph, then back to me again and smirked. "Chose? Then maybe you should know a bit more about Toph. Like how she is no longer a member of the Bei Fong family."

This caught me by complete surprise. I glanced at Toph who looked ready to murder Sonji. "What do you mean 'no longer a member'? No one can simply kick a person out of their family if the person was born into that family."

Sonji's smirk grew slightly bigger. "Apparently Toph's father, Lao Bei Fong, can. He and his wife completely disowned Toph after she disrespected their wishes for her to marry me. Instead of wanting to be my wife and live a life of luxury befitting a woman of her social class, she opted to run the streets doing whatever she wanted and fight in those barbaric Earth Rumble tournaments. She was written out of her parents will and is no longer allowed back to their estate. Meaning, your date is no longer a rich heiress and has nothing. She's blind, has no regard for tradition, is trigger-happy, has a mouth that rivals one of a sailor, and generally is a poor example of what a young lady of high class should be like. I know all this must be shocking to you, but if you are willing to come with me, I can show you to some young ladies who know how to act."

When Sonji finished, I was completely speechless. I saw Toph move and looked just in time to see her quickly wipe a single stray tear from her face, which had become red with rage. She quickly stood up and I pulled her back into her chair and got her to calm down before turning back to the bastard that was sitting smugly across the table.

"I can see why Toph didn't want you. You degrade her because of her blindness and treated her like an invalid and then you wonder why she sent you flying into a stone wall. The only thing I'm shocked about is that her parents actually wanted her to marry a jackass like you and kicked her out of their home. If she turned you down despite your wealth, then you must not be nearly as great as you think you are. What I find the most amusing, is the fact that you keep insulting her blindness, yet she could totally kick your ass before you could even take one step. You claim that Toph is rude and uncivilized, but apparently she has enough class to be one of the Avatar's teachers, help end the Hundred Year War, and help keep peace and order in the world, which is way more than what you could ever dream of doing. Now, you and that mindless airhead need to go back to whatever dark hole you crawled out of before I make you leave."

Sonji glared at me and Toph. "I can see I was wrong about you. Perhaps you and that filthy mudslug are a perfect match." I heard a slow song start playing and saw several couples migrate to the dance area. "Come Ling. Let's go dance and leave these two miscreants to their shameful lives."

Sonji and Ling got up and followed the other couples. I turned to face Toph and was surprised to see her smiling at me.

"Thanks, but I still would have preferred to just bury him."

"I'm sure you would, but we can't cause a scene."

"I know, but still I wish we could get back at him." Suddenly, Toph smirked and got a mischievous look in her eye. "Terran, how good are you at bending discretely?"

"I can manage. Why?"

"Because Sonji is about to have the worst dance of his life. Come on."

Toph grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the area where the other couples were slow dancing. It's a good thing Tao used to force me to dance with her, or I would be in trouble right now. Toph picked a spot close to where Sonji and Ling were. I wrapped my arms around her waist and Toph tried to get her arms around my neck. Unfortunately, she was just a little too short and I had to bend over slightly but not to where I would feel awkward or uncomfortable. As we started dancing, Toph whispered for me to watch what she does. I saw her make a tiny movement with her feet and instantly heard Sonji stumble. I looked up to see Ling pushing him away from her, and I smiled when I realized what Toph wanted me to help her do. Following Toph's example, I shifted my foot to move the ground under Sonji's foot and make him fall flat on his bottom. Toph tried to stifle her laughter as he got up and looked around confused. When his eyes locked with mine, he glared daggers at us. At that point, I saw Ling shoot forward and crash into him. Other couples took notice and stared oddly at the two seemingly clumsy dancers. To finish it, Toph and I waited for Sonji and Ling to start dancing again. Toph then asked me to spin her, and upon doing so, both Sonji and Ling spun right into another couple. Thoroughly humiliated, Sonji glared at us one last time before grabbing Ling and leaving the area in a huff.

Toph and I finished our dance, the whole time trying not to fall over laughing. After our dance, Aang led the ceremony where we honored those who died during the war, and directly after that there was going to be a fireworks show. Toph pulled on my arm.

"Come on, I know where we can get a better view."

"Uhh, Toph? You won't exactly have a good view no matter where we are."

Toph stopped and smirked. "I don't have to see the fireworks to enjoy them. I can hear them and I know they are there. Besides, you can see them, so you can describe them to me. Now come on. I know of a tree we can watch them from."

Toph pulled me through the crowd and out of the gardens toward a large secluded tree. This thing had better have some sturdy branches. Suddenly I heard someone yell and turned around to see Sonji with his feet encased in the ground. Toph walked up to him.

"When are you going to learn that you can't sneak up on me?"

Sonji was visibly enraged. "How dare you humiliate me and my date like that! And don't try to deny it, I know it was you, you little bitch!"

If Toph was bothered by the insult, she didn't show it. "Awww, what's the matter? Is the baby upset 'cause he was showed up by a blind runt?"

In the blink of an eye, Sonji slapped Toph across her face so hard it actually knocked her off her feet. What happened next occurred without me even thinking. I immediately brought him forward and slammed him into the tree. Then I popped his feet out of the ground, turned him around to face me, and held him off the ground against the tree by his neck. The more he squirmed, the tighter my grip became. I had to admit, I was shocked by my own actions, but enough was enough. I spoke to Sonji in a dangerously low voice once he stopped moving and focused on me.

"If you ever put your hands on Toph again, I'll personally see to it that you don't have hands anymore. Do I make myself clear?"

I only got a gurgled "yes" for an answer, but it was good enough. I let him go and Sonji half walked, half ran off holding his neck, with Toph shifting the ground underneath him along the way.

"Toph, are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Though I could see her rubbing the left side of her face in the dim light.

**Toph's POV**

I can't believe that bastard actually got me. The spot was still stinging badly. I just hope he didn't leave a noticeable mark, but I'm pretty sure he did. When I had finally convinced Terran that I was going to be fine, I created an earth pillar that lifted us up to a branch that was strong enough to hold us both. Thanks to Sokka, I was slowly conquering my fear of being off the ground and could now climb trees with relative calm, though riding on Appa and being near water still made me nervous. Once we were sitting stable on the branch, Terran wrapped his arm around me to keep me from falling and began describing the fireworks to me. After a while, my face started stinging badly again and when I rubbed it, Terran grabbed my hand, slowly pulled it away, and turned the left side of my face towards him.

"Toph, you have a giant red mark in the shape of a hand covering your cheek."

"Oh great, now I match Zuko." I thought for a moment and figured I should thank him for having my back a while ago. "Umm…thanks for what you did. You didn't have to do it."

I heard Terran chuckle. "To tell you the truth, I wasn't fully in control of what I was doing. It just sort of…happened."

I smiled and leaned my head against him. "It's about time you toughened up. There's no way I'm going to be seen with a pansy."

Suddenly, Terran tilted my head up and brought his face close enough for me to feel his breath on my face. "So does this mean that you're willing to be seen with me now?"

I was glad Terran couldn't sense heartbeats, because mine had probably set a new record. "Maybe."

I felt Terran pull me into his lap and close the distance. And you know what? I actually kissed him back. Weird, I know, but I figured if he went through everything that happened tonight and was happy go through it, then maybe he does genuinely love me. Katara and Suki had better not rub this in my face.

Terran and I finally broke apart and I placed my head against his chest while he rested his chin on my head. We sat for a while as I listened to the fireworks going off in the distance and the responding 'ooos' and 'ahhhs' of the people watching. I felt Terran tilt his head down a little.

"So this means we're together?"

"I guess so. But you'd better not call me any stupid pet names."

"That's not fair. You call me Book Worm."

I sighed. "That's not a pet name, that's a nickname. I give one to all the people close to me. But I guess you can call me Bandit since that's part of my nickname."

"Alright…Bandit." I could practically hear the smirk in his voice.

Well this was going to be interesting.

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**Katara's POV**

In the carriage on our way home after the party, Aang was talking animatedly next to me about the turnout at the party this year when I noticed Toph sitting across from me trying to bury the left side of her face into Terran's shoulder.

"Toph, is something wrong?"

She turned her head toward me, never lifting her face from the folds of Terran's robes. "No, nothing is wrong. I'm just…tired."

Toph may be good at detecting lies, but she certainly wasn't good at telling them. "Come on Toph, I know you better than that. Now tell me what's wrong." Toph moved her head in a way that, for a second, allowed me to see a small flash of red on her cheek. "Is that a rash on your face?"

At this point, everyone turned their attention to Toph, who just buried her face further into Terran's shoulder. I could see Toph growing more annoyed and Terran started shifting uncomfortably in his seat. "No Katara, there's nothing on my face, now leave me alone."

I know I saw something. I motioned for Mai, who was sitting next to her, to lift Toph's head. Mai had to struggle to get around Toph's swatting just to get her hand under tiny girl's head and lift it so I could see. Aang went silent and everyone just stared at what we saw.

"Hey, watch your hands, that stings!"

I shook myself free of the initial shock. "Toph, what happened?!"

"It's already been handled, so just leave me alone."

Sokka kneeled down in front of her and examined the large red hand print. "Who did this to you? Terran, did you have anything to do with this?!"

Suki dragged him back to his seat before he had the chance to do anything he would later regret. "Sokka, calm down. If Terran did it, I seriously doubt that he'd be sitting here with us. Toph, who hit you?"

Realizing she would have to answer eventually, Toph sighed. "It was Sonji."

Sokka looked up at her. "Sonji?! That guy your parents tried to force you to marry? He's lucky I wasn't there."

Toph pushed Mai's hand away from her face. "Sokka, it's ok. Terran ran him off."

I looked at Terran who was now blushing and smiled. "Well that's good to hear. Toph, when we get home, sit in the kitchen so I can heal that. So Terran, what did you do exactly?"

"Well…I…"

Toph snickered. "I heard him almost strangle Sonji and threaten to cut his hands off if he ever hit me again."

Zuko stared in disbelief at Terran. "Woah. Remind me to never get on your bad side."

Toph's ear twitched. "What are you grumbling about, Snoozzles?"

I looked at Sokka leaning against the backrest with his arms crossed. "Nothing, I just wish if I could have been there. But it's over and has been dealt with and that's all that matters."

When the carriage reached our house, everyone unloaded and filed inside. I noticed that Toph wasn't around and looked back at the carriage in time to see Terran quickly kiss her before she climbed down and shut the door so Terran could be taken home. Smiling, I turned around before they could see me watching them and walked into the house.


	7. Chapter 7

**This chapter was originally going to be much longer, but I decided to put some of it in the next chapter instead. Don't forget to hit that little "go" button at the bottom when you're finished reading this. For all you visual people, here is an example of how I picture the gaang in this story. Of course, there are some differences between my visualization and the picture. In this story, Toph is shorter than she appears in the picture, Zuko's hair looks like a slightly longer version of the way it does in the show, and Sokka and Zuko are a little taller than they are in the picture. Just copy and paste the link and take out the spaces. Click on the image to make it bigger. I didn't draw this picture, nor do I own it.**

**http : / / allagea . deviantart . com / art / Reunion - 89708759**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender. There, are you happy Nick and Viacom?! (-goes to cry in corner-)**

**Zuko: Hey, get out of my emo corner!**

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**Suki's POV**

It was the day after the peace celebration party and everyone decided to spend the day together in the beautiful field just in front of the city. Zuko decided to see how Aang's bending was progressing, and, along with Toph and Katara, had him fight all three of them simultaneously in a duel while Mai would occasionally toss a dagger or two to keep Aang on his toes. Sokka and I just hung back and played around with Appa, Cabi, and Momo. Later, around mid-day, Terran showed up with the note Toph had left at his house that morning telling him where we were. Come to think of it, Toph was in an oddly good mood today. I guess that's why she didn't hit him when he picked her up in a hug and caused her to blush a bright crimson. Though she did wiggle out of his hold and launch Aang into the air when he laughed at Terran hugging her. Toph excused herself from Aang's training and started pushing Terran over to where Cabi was. That's when Sokka suddenly became very interested in starting a sparring match with me. I was more than ok with it, it was just that Sokka kept getting distracted by Toph and Terran playing with Cabi. Now, he was starting to get on my nerves.

"Sokka, pay attention!"

Sokka turned in my direction and got nailed in the head with one of the metal fans I threw at him. Seriously, that was the fourth time that happened during our sparing match. He got up, rubbing the spot where he got hit and looked at me sheepishly.

"Sorry Suki. Try that again, I won't get caught off guard this time."

"Sokka, that was the fourth time I caught you by surprise. What is with you today?"

Sokka glanced back at Terran, who was being chased around by Cabi. I noticed he no longer looked at Terran with distrust, but his eyes now held an emotion that I didn't have enough time to identify before he looked back at me and readied his sword.

"Nothing. I just got a little distracted."

I quickly put my fans into my belt and drew my katana sword as Sokka came at me with a series of swipes and jabs, all of which I was easily able to counter. It shouldn't be this easy. Normally, I'd have to pay close attention to Sokka's every movement just to have a chance at beating him, but today, I was barely breaking a sweat. I could tell Sokka's mind was still elsewhere. Five minutes later found Sokka on the ground with my foot on his chest and the tip of my sword pointed right in front of his nose. Sokka dropped his sword and raised his hands in defeat.

"I win." I said with a half-hearted smirk.

"Can I get up now?"

I sighed and lifted my foot away to let him stand. I put my sword back in its sheath and smiled at the yellow gemstones that Sokka had Aang help him decorate it with late last night. He even carved my name and elaborate designs into the wood with skill I didn't know he had. But my smile faded a little as I remembered him sitting on the bed in our room when he was carving the designs. He looked like he was thinking really hard. Like something was troubling him. But when I questioned him about it, he simply denied anything being wrong and went to sleep. Now, it was obvious that wasn't true.

"Sokka, what's wrong?"

He picked his sword up off the ground and put it in the sheath on his back and sighed.

"I already told you Suki, it's nothing."

I walked up and hugged him from behind, hoping I could coax it out of him. "Sokka, whatever it is, you know you can tell me."

For a moment, Sokka actually looked like he was going to tell me, until we heard high pitched squealing/laughing. I looked up to see Toph squirming on the ground under Terran, who was tickling her.

"Aha! So the greatest earthbender in the world _does _squeal." said Terran as he continued to tickle Toph.

"Alright, alright! I admit it! Just stop, please!"

I giggled at the sight, but noticed that Sokka didn't find it so amusing. Instead, he stared with his mouth slightly open and a pained look.

"Sokka, seriously, lighten up. It's obvious that Terran has no intention of hurting Toph in any way."

"It's not that; it's just…I'm the only one allowed to tickle her."

"What? Sokka that's ridiculous. Since when?"

"Since…I don't know. Haven't you ever heard of unwritten rules?"

I watched Terran finally let Toph get up and Cabi roll over on her side for one of them to rub her belly.

"Well, looks like that unwritten rule just got rewritten. But I still don't see what the big deal is."

Sokka just shook his head, then turned to me and smiled. "You're right; it's not a big deal. I don't know what I was thinking."

Momo flew over to me and tried to hide behind my head in a desperate attempt to keep away from Terran, who for some reason was trying to get him.

"Come on Momo, all I want is the peach."

Momo swatted his hand away and screeched. Smiling, I plucked the mischievous little lemur off my head and held him.

"If you ask him nicely Terran, he'll give it back." I looked down at Momo and stroked his head. "Momo, will you give the peach back? You know it's not yours."

Momo purred in my arms before reluctantly giving the peach back to Terran. Toph walked up next to him followed by Cabi and Momo jumped onto her shoulder.

"Well Snoozles, looks like Momo has someone else to steal food from."

Terran looked at Momo and scratched his ear. "But this is one piece of fruit you won't be getting, little guy." As Terran raised the peach up to his mouth, Cabi licked it out of his hand and ate it. Terran stared in disbelief and whimpered at the loss of his precious peach.

"Toph, aren't you going to do anything? She just ate my peach."

Toph just stood there and smirked. "Sorry, but there isn't anything I can do. Badgermoles are like wolves; if they see you as a leader, they'll respect you. If they don't, then be prepared to have your food occasionally stolen. She tried to do the same thing to me, but I quickly let her know whose boss. Just give it some time."

"Hey, what's going on over there?"

Everyone except Toph turned to look where Sokka was pointing. We saw Aang sitting on the ground hugging his legs to his chest and his face buried in the top of his knees. Katara was poking Zuko repeatedly in his chest and seemed to be fussing at him. We walked over to get a closer look.

"All I said was that he needs to work on his firebending some more. I even offered to help!"

"Zuko, you know how much pressure Aang is under. Between all the diplomatic meetings, being called out to settle disputes, and helping rebuild the nations, I'm surprised he has time to sleep!"

Toph cut into Katara's ranting. "You know Sparky, we've all been pretty stressed out these past few years. The only break time we get is this festival and a few weeks a year to visit home."

"Fine, just forget I said anything." he said with a sigh.

Katara knelt down next to the stressed out airbender and lifted his head.

"Aang, how would you like come with me to the Golden Oasis day spa. It'll give you a chance to relax. In fact, we all could use a few hours of relaxation."

Aang looked at her and smiled. "Ok, sure."

Sokka folded his arms across his chest in defiance. "There is no way I'm going to a day spa. They give you facials and do your nails."

Sokka is a sweet person, but in the words of Toph, he can be a real meathead sometimes. "Sokka, quit being stupid. There are plenty of guys who go to spas, and to be perfectly honest, your toe nails could use some attention."

"But…but…but-"

"No. I refuse to spend another sleepless night with your claw-like toe nails raking my skin off. Just consider yourself lucky we're not going to the Fancy LADY day spa."

Toph and Zuko snickered causing Sokka to blush and scowl at them. "Well I don't know what you're laughing at, Toph. You're going too."

"Ha! Yeah right."

"You're coming with us Toph. You and I have some things to discuss." Katara said as she grabbed Toph's arm and pulled.

"No, wait! Terran…was…going to take me somewhere, weren't you Terran?"

"Actually, I'd like go too." Toph glared up at him. "What? I've never been to a spa before."

Toph slapped her forehead as Katara smiled triumphantly.

**

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**Toph's POV**

I can't believe that book worm sold me out. I mean, come on, he's my boyfriend! He is supposed to be on my side! And I don't like the way Katara spoke to me. It's like she knows something. What if…no. There's no way anyone knows that Terran and I are officially together.

When we got to the day spa, we left Appa and Cabi outside, and we all walked in. I could feel two workers approach us. They were obviously thrilled that the Avatar and his companions had chosen to spend some time at their spa and didn't even care that Momo had come in with us. We were each given a robe to change into and then everyone went their separate ways. Well, sort of. Katara and Aang went to the massage rooms followed by Momo, while Suki literally dragged Sokka away to do something about his toe nails. I felt Zuko and Mai walk up from behind me and I heard Mai's dull voice.

"Wanna watch him suffer?" I caught a hint of a smile in her voice.

"That's not even a question."

I knew that going in the room meant that the attendants would be scraping the bottom of my feet in an attempt to clean them, but listening to Sokka getting tortured with a pedicure would be more than worth it.

We walked in, and I could feel Suki force Sokka to sit in one of the chairs as I found my own place to sit. Terran and I tried to stifle our laughter as we heard them arguing.

"Suki, this is embarrassing! Look! Even Mai is laughing at me and she hardly laughs at anything."

"I don't care. Either you do this, or you're sleeping on the couch for the rest of the week."

Sokka groaned and I felt him slouch in his chair. I feel sorry for whoever gets stuck with dealing with his feet. As the woman in front of me struggled with scraping the vast amounts of dirt off my feet, I tried not to kick her, but it was proving to be difficult. Every scrape was like someone screaming directly into my ear.

"Toph, are you ok?" Terran asked next to me, sounding really concerned.

"I'm fine. It's just very irritating when people touch my feet."

But I quickly forgot the aggravating scraping when I heard Sokka yelp at something the attendant did to his feet.

"OW! Suki, when is this going to be over?"

"Maybe if you would try keeping still, it won't hurt. Now stop acting like a big baby."

When the attendants were done with our feet (including Sokka's), Katara walked into the room and pulled on my arm.

"Come on Toph, lets go to the steam room and chat for a while."

Before I could protest, I was dragged off down the hall to the women's steam rooms followed by Mai and Suki. Suki was the last one in as she shut the door behind her and we all sat on the benches. This didn't feel right.

"Alright Sugar Queen, what are you up to?"

Katara answered in an innocently sweet voice. "What? I can't sit and talk with my best friend?"

"Ok, I'll play along. How's……life?"

"It's good. Soooo…you and Terran must be getting pretty close, eh?"

Frankly, I didn't want to reveal that bit of information yet. I wasn't in the mood to put up with Katara saying 'I told you so! I told you so!'

"We're just friends, Sugar Queen, so back off."

"Really? Because you two looked like way more than 'just friends' after the party last night."

"What?! I don't know what you're talking about."

"Give it up, Toph. I saw him kiss you just before you got out of the carriage."

I think my heart just skipped a beat and I just knew I was blushing like mad. Suki gasped excitedly and Mai chuckled softly to herself. Great. Now they were going to rub it in my face.

"Kissed? Hey, Toph, I thought you said you didn't like Terran that way." Suki said in a teasing way.

"Cram it, Suki! I know what I said."

She pressed on. "Looks like you're not the odd one out anymore. So when did it happen? Was he romantic?"

I groaned and flopped down on my back. This is exactly what I wanted to avoid. My only choice was to give a decent answer or I'd be hounded until I did.

"It just happened, ok? There weren't any sappy confessions, poems, or other sickening romantic crap that guys do. Happy?"

I heard Mai shift to put more water on the hot rocks in the middle of the room. "Whatever. I'm just glad he isn't annoying."

"So what do you like about him?" Katara asked with excitement.

I rolled over on my stomach and sighed. "I guess…I like that he doesn't feel sorry for me just because I'm blind and that he likes me just the way I am. He doesn't complain about my "dusty" appearance and actually likes my tough attitude. Plus, he's actually a really cool and fun person once he stops being so shy. And his lava bending is pretty sweet. Even I didn't think of that possibility."

Mai sat up on the other side of the room. "Lava bending? I thought that was just a myth."

"It's not. Aang was telling me how Terran taught himself to lava bend. He even promised to show Aang how to do it when we get back to the Fire Nation." At least Katara so far wasn't teasing me about her being right. "I think it is so sweet that you've finally found someone to be with, Toph. The two of you look so cute together. I told you that you liked him. Maybe now you'll start listening to me. Oh! Now we can give you advice!"

I spoke too soon.

"No way. Sorry Katara, but _that _is where I draw the line. If you three are done with your interrogations, can I please leave?"

Katara got up and made her way over to the door. "Yeah. The baking contest is about to start and I need to get to my stand and see if my waterbending students are done setting everything up. See you guys there. And Toph, if you ever change your mind, my offer still stands."

Katara left the steam room and I finally saw my chance to escape more prying questions. I made my way to the massage tables, not feeling too happy about the thought of Katara and Suki wanting to give me dating advice later on.

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**Terran's POV**

At the baking contest, I was completely overwhelmed by all the sweet-smelling baked goods that surrounded me and was told we could get priority picks on anything we wanted. As I looked around to decide on which booth to visit first, a bunch of little kids rushed past Sokka walking in front, almost knocking him down. All of them crowded around Appa and Cabi and started bombarding Aang and Toph with millions of questions.

"Cool! A badgermole!"

"Is it true that this is the last sky bison?!"

"Can I pet him? Please mister avatar?"

"Is the badgermole friendly?"

Aang and Toph looked at each other confused as I struggled to keep Cabi calm, who unlike Appa, apparently didn't like all the attention and made a distressed cry as she tried to slowly back away from the children. Something had to be done quickly before someone got hurt. Fortunately, my prayers were answered when Sokka stepped in front of the children and tried to get them to settle down.

"Ok kids. Settle down. My friends here will answer your questions _one at a time_. Also, you need to keep your voices down, because Cabi," they all turned their little heads to the badgermole he was pointing at, "isn't used to being around so many kids. She has very acute hearing and your loud, high-pitched voices make her feel uncomfortable. Understand?"

Sokka was answered with a unified 'yes sir' and once he walked away, the kids calmly turned back to ask their questions one by one. Cabi calmed down and I could finally stop pulling on her reigns. The kids actually weren't so bad once they were orderly and Cabi even let some of them pet her after some gentle reassurance from Toph. A little water tribe boy with a tooth missing in the front looked at Toph confused.

"Aren't badgermoles supposed to be bigger than this?"

Toph scratched Cabi under her chin. "Yeah they get much bigger than this, but Cabi is still growing and eats tons of food to do so."

The little boy's eyes brightened and he grinned. "Can we feed her?"

"Sure. Just don't give her anything spicy and absolutely NO frosting or whipped cream. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes master Toph." With that, the kids scattered to different booths. Toph turned to me and smirked.

"You don't mind if Cabi follows us, do you? I need to make sure those little crumb-snatchers don't try to sneak her anything she shouldn't eat."

"Not at all. Come on Cabi."

I tugged on her reigns and she shuffled alongside us. We made a stop at Katara's booth to get a slice of one of the many sugar berry pies she made and gave Cabi a few whole ones to keep her from raiding the place, though the constant coming and going of kids with various baked goods to feed her with was more than enough to distract her.

In the distance, I saw several game stands lined up in a row offering prizes. Upon closer inspection, I saw that one game in particular was offering stuffed mooselions as one of the prizes.

"Hey Toph, lets go to that game over there!" Toph looked at me with a huge fake grin and waved her hand in front of her face. "Right…sorry. This way."

I made my way over to the game in question, which featured a bell you had to ring by hitting the lever with a heavy mallet.

"What are we doing here, Book Worm?"

"I want to win a stuffed mooselion to replace the one my brother's friend burned to a crisp and this game has one as a prize."

Toph raised an eye brow in skepticism. "You really think you're strong enough?"

I looked at some huge guy who nearly knocked the bell off its place at the top of a wooden pillar.

"It's worth a try. You want me to win something for you?"

Toph shook her head. "No thanks. If I want something, I'll get it myself."

As I waited in line, I noticed Sokka and Suki emerge from the crowd of people. Sokka said something to Toph, who said something back and pointed toward me. Sokka burst out laughing and didn't stop when Suki and Toph lightly shoved him. Toph then turned to him and spoke in a challenging tone before pushing him toward the line I was standing in. I looked at Toph questioningly.

"What just happened?"

Toph pushed Sokka in front of her and smirked. "Sokka thinks you're too much of a wimp to ring the bell. So I bet him that if you do better than him, then he has to wear a dress for one whole day and I get to pick when."

"Yeah, and if I do better, then Toph has to be my personal servant for one whole day." Sokka said, pushing Toph's hands away and straightening his shirt.

This didn't sound good. I didn't want to be responsible for Toph losing a bet. "Guys, I don't know if-"

Toph cut me off before I could finish. "Relax, Book Worm. I won't get mad at you if you lose. Besides, judging from your vibration signature, I can tell that you'll give Skin And Bones over here a run for his money."

"Hey! For your information, I'm a lot stronger than you give me credit for. Besides, I've been working out lately." As he said that last part, Sokka rubbed one of his biceps affectionately.

Toph, however, didn't look convinced. She crossed her arms and smirked. "The only thing you've been working out is that bottomless pit you call a stomach. I'm surprised you haven't gotten fat."

Sokka narrowed his eyes. "Ya know, that's a lot of talk from someone who could barely hold up the mallet and had to cheat to win at this game."

I expected Toph to start firing insults back at him, but instead she just laughed in his face. "You have no idea what I'm capable of doing. In case you haven't noticed, I'm not a little girl anymore. I'm way stronger than I was during the war, and I'll prove it to you without cheating." Just to make it clear to him, she grabbed Sokka in a headlock and laughed as he struggled to free himself. I heard Suki a short distance away yelling something along the lines of 'Don't kill him' as she supervised the kids playing on Cabi, who was still snapping up any food they gave her. As much as I didn't like the idea of Toph losing a bet because of me, I was _very_ interested in knowing what Sokka would look like in a dress.


	8. Chapter 8

**Woot! I found some free time to finish out the rest of this chapter after moving some of it here from the previous chapter. So here is ch. 8 waaaaaaay ahead of schedule. Remember kids, reviews are cool.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender. But maybe I can win the lottery and buy it.**

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****Terran's POV**

When it came time for our turn, Sokka was the first one up. He paid the man and he handed Sokka the mallet, stating that he had three tries.

"Hey Snoozles, I was thinking about making you wear a really big and frilly dress. What do you think?"

Sokka looked at her and straightened up. "I think I'll have you do all my chores when you lose."

He seemed a little unnerved by the weight of the mallet, but nonetheless swung as hard as he could and the small wooden cylinder stopped a short distance under the bell before falling back down. With a little more determination, he swung again causing the cylinder to stop just under the bell. His last try ended in the same result. Toph was finding it difficult to keep standing as she laughed her heart out. Even I found the situation a little funny. Suki kept a straight face, but I could tell she wanted to at least smile if not outright laugh. Sokka looked at a very amused Toph with annoyance.

"Laugh it up Toph. Lets see you do any better."

Toph paid and took the mallet, but just before she could raise it, the man that she paid grabbed her arm and turned her around to face him. He studied her closely and then took the mallet away from her.

"Nice try young lady, but I remember _you_. You were that scamming little girl who cheated me out of a lot of money. If you think I'm just gonna let you get away with it again, you've got another thing coming. If I remember correctly, the rumor was that you used earthbending."

With that, the man went into a wagon and came back out with a large,thick, square shaped piece of wood. He put it down in front of the wooden lever and planted Toph on it. Smirking he handed her the mallet.

"Now try it, and don't you dare step off that piece of wood."

Toph grumbled and steadied herself. She reached out with the mallet and felt around for the lever. Finding it, she took a deep breath and hit her target, making the cylinder rise up to just under the bell. She gritted her teeth and tried again, with the same results. The kids on Cabi were cheering while other people were staring slack jawed, finding it hard to believe that someone of Toph's size could actually come that close to winning. I had to admit, even I was amazed.

"Come on, Toph! You almost have it! Just swing a little harder!"

She got down into a horse stance and slammed the mallet down on the lever, putting everything she had into it. This time, she just barely tapped the bell, causing it to make a light ringing sound just audible to everyone close by since the only people making any kind of noise at this point were the cheering kids. Sokka stared in disbelief and his cheeks were tinted with a light red. Toph appraoched him grinning.

"Tell ya what Snoozles, since I'm in such a good mood today, if you want to back out of our bet, you can do so right now."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "You'd like that, wouldn't you? Forget it Toph, when Terran proves me right, I want to enjoy every second of it."

I paid the man and stepped up in front of the lever. The mallet was a little heavier than I was expecting, but I still figured I had a chance. Taking a deep breath and making sure to balance myself, I brought the mallet just over my shoulder and slammed it down, causing the cylinder to rise up just under the bell and fall without hitting it. The second time, I put more effort into it, hitting the bell solidly. I turned toward Sokka and Toph to see Sokka staring open mouthed and Toph smirking and clapping slowly before turning to him.

"Hope you like ruffles."

Toph walked up to me smiling, and pulled me over to the prizes. I picked out a medium sized stuffed mooselion and Toph pointed to rest of the prizes sitting in the large wooden box.

"See anything good in there?"

I looked over everything, trying to find something she might like. My gaze settled on a large pillow in the shape of a very fat-looking blue dragon.

"This looks nice." I picked the pillow up and handed it to her. "It's a pillow in the shape of a dragon."

Toph ran her fingers over it, and gave it a light squeeze. "Well it's soft. You want to go? I don't feel like sticking around for the judging."

"Sure."

Toph went to get Cabi and all the little kids were forced to find something else to do. We mostly just walked around the city joking about the possible dresses Toph could force Sokka to wear and even walked into a few dress boutiques to get some ideas. Eventually we found our way back to Toph's house in the upper ring.

**Toph's POV**

The minute I got into the house, I flopped down on the soft, comfortable couch to rest my back. Swinging that mallet put a lot more strain on my back than I initially realized and now I was starting to regret it. I groaned when Terran sat down on the same couch, preventing me from stretching out. I got the feeling that he was staring at me and I sat up.

"Don't you know it's rude to stare?"

"Sorry, its just…I was wondering. What's it like to be blind?"

"What?" That caught me completely off guard. Terran shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"Forgive me for being so blunt, but I just had to know."

I sat in complete silence for awhile and finally came up with an answer.

"It's not like anything. It just is, and explaining it to you would be just as impossible as you explaining to me what it's like to be able to see. But I can tell you that I still enjoy the world like any normal person. The fact that I can't see what anything looks like means that all my other senses are heightened and I can focus on other things. Take people for example. Because I can't see what that person looks like, I can focus more on who they are and what their character is like. If my friends and I encounter a dangerous or shifty person, I'm always the first to notice. While most people are raving about how beautiful the sunrise is, I'm busy enjoying sensing the world around me come back to life. I can analyze a person's voice, sense their heartbeat, and feel the way they carry themselves and move around and instantly know more about that person than anyone who can see ever could. I can't be fooled by the metaphorical masks that people put on or be afraid of the dark. My hearing is sharper than a foxdeer's and I can feel something as small as ants crawling on the ground from over half a mile away." I leaned back against the couch to ease the tension in my back. "Yet everyone says _I'm _the one who's handicapped."

"Wow. I never thought about it that way. You're an amazing person Toph."

"Thanks. Now go…I don't know…help yourself to whatever is in the kitchen or something. My back feels very sore and I want to sleep."

I laid back down and turned over onto my side. Suddenly, I felt Terran pulling me up toward him and I automatically curled up into a ball.

"Terran, what part of 'I want to sleep' don't you understand?! You're making my back hurt even more!"

"Just a minute."

I was about to punch him when I felt him reach around and start gently rubbing my back.

"Does that feel better?"

"It…actually, yeah, it does feel better."

As he continued to rub my back, I put my head on his chest and listened to his heart slow down as he and I both gradually drifted off to sleep. I slept so well, that I had no idea how much time had passed. I'm not one to get all sappy or anything, but this was perhaps the happiest and most peaceful moment of my life. So it was a real shame when the moment was ruined by everyone else suddenly coming into the house and catching me and Terran like this.

My eyes opened slowly, heavy with sleep, as I vaguely became aware of a sound behind me that sounded like the front door opening and voices coming into the house. I was so out of it, I wasn't even sure if I was really hearing those sounds or if I was just dreaming them. But the matter was settled when Sokka's voice cut through my half consciousness.

"What in the name of Roku is going on here?!"

My mind was jolted awake and my eyes snapped open as the situation slowly registered in my head. Thank the spirits I couldn't see. A heavy silence echoed through the house and I could feel everyone staring at me and Terran, who was still quietly snoring. I sat up and turned my head in the direction of the people standing in the doorway. My movements woke up Terran, and he sat up in a sleepy haze.

"Huh…wha? Whuz goin on?"

I grabbed the dragon pillow next to me and smacked him with it. Once his tone of voice confirmed he was fully awake, I felt him tense up against me as he also became aware of the people watching us. Ok. There is no way this situation can get any more awkward.

"We didn't do anything!"

How stupid of me. Of _course_ the situation can get more awkward. Because the universe is just evil like that. I don't know if Terran said that to make things better or if it was because he couldn't think of anything else to say, but I do know that it didn't help things at all. In fact, it just made them worse.

**Sokka's POV**

I knew it. Just when I thought I could trust that guy, something like this happens.

"We didn't do anything!"

What?! Why would Terran have that be the first thing to come out of his mouth unless something _did _happen. Oh, that does it.

"You…are so…dead!"

Terran's eyes widened in horror. "No Sokka! I said I _didn't_- "

But he didn't have time to finish. I flew across the room and yanked him up off the couch by the front of his shirt. Who does he think he is, just waltzing right into my _best friend's _life and taking advantage of her?

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't castrate you."

"Because he's telling the truth Snoozels. Now let him go."

I didn't notice Katara walk up next to me. She pried my hands off Terran's shirt and pulled me away.

"Chill out Sokka! There is no need for violence. If Toph says he's telling the truth, then nothing happened. I think you owe Terran an apology."

I narrowed my eyes at him. Why should I have to apologize? But at that point, it was my best option since my sister most likely wouldn't let me go until I did.

"I'm sorry."

Katara glared at me and crossed her arms. "For?"

I sighed. "…for jumping to conclusions and making false accusations."

Aang walked up and tugged on my arm. "Come on Sokka, you can help me wash Appa and Cabi. They're both covered in fruit filling."

Katara started heading toward the kitchen. "I'll get dinner started. Aang, be sure to bath Momo too. I don't know what he's covered in, but it's very sticky."

I looked over at a bright orange Momo licking his fur. He looked up just as Aang was about grab him and tried to fly away. But Aang captured him in a shell of air and took him out back. Appa and Cabi were busy licking the sticky mess from each other's fur while Aang and I gathered brushes and enough soap for all three animals.

"Momo, hold still! No one is trying to kill you!"

But Momo refused to go down without a fight. From the way he was acting, you'd think I was trying to wash him with acid or something. But finally, I managed to get him back to his normal beige coloring and moved on to bath Cabi. Aang bended some soapy water on her to get me started. As I began scrubbing her face with the brush, I sensed someone walk up behind me and turned around to see it was Zuko.

"Unless you're here to help, go away. I don't feel like being bothered."

But he didn't budge. "Well that's too bad, because we need to talk. I understand how you feel, but you need to take a step back and control yourself. You did the same thing to Aang and Katara, and its time for you to realize that just like Katara, Toph is growing up."

I sighed and continued to scrub Cabi. "That's not the issue Zuko. I promised Toph I wouldn't let anyone hurt her, and I intend to keep that promise."

Aang's head popped up from the other side of Appa. "But did you really have to threaten him like that? I mean, that was a little unnecessary."

"Look, Toph is my best friend and she asked me to help her make sure that Terran doesn't have any negative intentions. I take that very seriously. I just wish if there was a way I could know for sure."

Zuko walked up and petted Cabi's nose. "I care about Toph too, but what are you going to do? Give Terran some kind of magical truth serum?"

As I climbed onto Cabi's back and cleaned deep into her sticky fur, an idea slowly formed in my head out of Zuko's sarcastic suggestion.

"Yeah, that's exactly what we'll do!"

Aang looked at me, puzzled. "_We_? What are you talking about?"

"We'll give Terran a 'truth serum'. Zuko and I are going to take Terran to one of the local taverns for drinks tonight and ask him questions. It's like people always say: If you want to know the truth, ask a drunk person."

Zuko looked at me like I had just grown a second head. "Sokka that is the most irresponsible idea I have ever heard. And why do you need me to come with you? Can't you just take him yourself?"

"There's no way Katara or Suki would trust me alone with him. That's why I need you. Please Zuko? You said you cared about Toph, didn't you?"

Zuko sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "As much as I think your idea is half-baked, Toph is like a little sister to me, and I would be very upset if some guy treated her badly. So fine, I'll go with you."

Aang leapt off of Appa's back with airbending and landed next to Zuko. "Guys, you really shouldn't do this. You can't get Terran drunk! What would his family think?! You can't just bring him home in that condition! And besides, what if something bad happens? Taverns aren't exactly the safest places to be, especially at night."

"You worry way too much Aang. I'll just pick a place where I'm known and take him there and tell his folks that he's spending the night with us. Plus, Zuko will be with me, and between the two of us, there will be more than enough protection from the other drunk patrons. Besides, if you're _soo _worried, then come with us. It'll make Katara less suspicious."

Aang looked hesitant. "Well…alright. But only to make sure nothing bad happens."

I smiled. "Cool. And remember, if anyone wants to know what we're doing, tell half-truths so Toph doesn't catch us." I was going to get my answer once and for all.

* * *

**Zuko's POV**

After dinner, I approached Terran and made my offer.

"Hey Terran, how would you like to come with me, Sokka, and Aang and get a few drinks?"

Terran looked hesitantly at me. "I don't think Sokka would want me to come with you guys. He doesn't trust me and hasn't been very friendly."

"Well that's what I was hoping we could fix. Maybe you could show him that you're not a bad person."

"I guess. If it means he'll stop treating me like a criminal."

"What's going on here?" Oh great. Just what I needed. Katara walked up to us and looked at me suspiciously. "What are you doing?"

I put on my best innocent face and remembered to stick to half-truths. "I was just inviting Terran to come with me, Sokka, and Aang for drinks. I figured if Terran can show Sokka that he can be trusted, then maybe Sokka will back off."

Katara narrowed her eyes at me and called Aang into the room. "Aang, are you going out to a tavern with Sokka and Zuko?"

"Yes, but only to supervise. I promise you that I won't drink any alcohol and we'll get home in a timely manner."

He gave her a reassuring smile and she dropped her suspicion. "Ok, but make sure that Sokka doesn't get out of hand."

* * *

**Zuko's POV**

We stopped in front of a tavern called The Old Rock and I could hear the sound of drunken conversations drifting out to the street. Inside, men were slung over their chairs if they weren't already on the floor and the few women that were in there were laughing wildly. Being careful to step over the men that were passed out on the floor, we made our way over to the counter and sat down on the nearest empty stools. The jolly owner of the tavern walked over to us and warmly greeted Sokka.

"Sokka! Good to see you my boy!"

"How's it been Jong?"

"Things have been great. I expect this place to be packed for the rest of the week. But then the World Festival always does wonders for my tavern." He looked in my direction. "Firelord Zuko, nice to see you and Avatar Aang here. Where is Toph?"

I put my arm around Terran's shoulders. "Toph isn't with us this time, but we do have her new boyfriend here."

The middle-age man looked at Terran and gave a hearty laugh. "So the rough and tumble Toph finally decided find herself a handsome young man. Well congratulations boy, you've got yourself an amazing young lady. So what'll it be?"

"A glass of rum for me and Zuko, and…" Sokka snickered "…a cup of tea for Aang."

Aang blushed as Jong turned his attention to Terran. "What'll you have, son."

"Uhh… beer would be fine."

Sokka signaled Aang to distract Terran. He called Jong over to him and I heard him speak in a low voice. "Think you could add a shot of whiskey to all of Terran's drinks?" He said pointing to the earthbender, "I can tell the guy is a lightweight."

Jong looked at Sokka questioningly. "That's a little sneaky of you. Are the other two in on this?"

"Oh yeah. Lie-free interrogations. You understand, right?"

Jong looked at me and I smirked at him. Then he got a look of sudden realization. "Oohhh. Gonna see if this mouse is actually a rat, eh? Sure I can help out. Just keep an eye on him though."

Jong gave us our drinks and left to go serve his other customers. Sokka was right about Terran being a lightweight. He only had two drinks and his speech was already slurred…badly. Now the questioning could start. Sokka asked the first question.

"So Terran, what do you think about Toph?"

Terran turned his head and gave a goofy drunken smile. "See's awesome. I had no idea girls could be that cool. See don care what uver people say bout her, spesally uver girls. See's happy doin her own thin. I wis I could be more like that."

Sokka raised an eyebrow and asked another question. "What were you and Toph doing alone in the house?"

"I asked her what blindnesses was like, and see tol me. Did you know see could sense a mile from ants or somefin like that? Anyway, then see complained about her back hurtin. So I gave her a back rub an see fell sleep on my chest." He stared off into space with dreamy look. "See looks soooooo cute when see sleeps."

Sokka leaned on the counter on one arm. "Come on. You don't care that much about her. She's just some hot piece to you, right?"

Terran looked sad for a moment. "What are you talkin about? Course I care bout her. Why wouldin I? Yeah, see's hot an all, but Toph's tha first girl I era loved, an hopely see'll be tha last. I'd be crushed if see hates me."

Sokka motioned for me to ask something. "So you and Toph have been getting along?"

Terran smiled. "Totely. See's not fra…uh…fra-gi-ul like other girls. It don matta how hard see get hit. See gets right back up and says I hit like a little girl. See's a nateral comedian an we made jokes bout the people we saw in city an wha dwess we'll make Sokka wear. And see's an awesome bender. See's offered ta so me a few tings."

Sokka narrowed his eyes at him and blushed at the dress comment. "So what do you plan on doing later?"

"Huuuuhhh?"

I sighed. "What do you hope to do when you and Toph are older? She_ is_ a super rich heiress. You'd get a free ride and everything."

"Huuhh? Toph's not rich. That bastard Sonji said her parents kicked her out of tha house. But I don care. I liked her fore I knew who see was anyway. One day, I hope see wanna be my…uh…wha the word?...oh yeah...wife. We could have lots a kids an teach em how to be tough an not take crap from people like my jerkass brother Roan." Terran's face changed to an angry one after he took another swig from his third drink. "Era since he got outta jail, that bastard has been on my case about Toph. If ya ask me, he should have spen more than one night in tha slammer. He bitches about Toph era time I see um. One a these days I'mma shove rocks so far up his ass, he'll be coughin em up. That'll give um somethin ta bitch about. I know he's my bro an all, but I've been puttin up with his crap all my life an I've jus about reached my breakin point. But it's cool that Mom keeps um in tha house all day."

Terran finished his drink, and a few minutes later, he fell off his stool and Aang caught him before he could hit the floor. Sokka paid Jong and we headed for home. Along the way, I told Aang to fly to Terran's house and tell his family that he would be spending the night at our house.

"So Sokka, still think he's a no good dirtbag? And what's this I hear about a dress?"

Sokka blushed. "The dress? Oh, that's…uh… nothing. Nope, nothing you need to know about yet. Anyway, I guess…I…was…" he took a deep breath, "wrong about him."

"But that's good right? Now you don't have to worry anymore. We know he's an awesome guy and I can tell that Toph will have a lot of fun being with him."

Sokka just looked at me then looked away as he adjusted Terran's arm around his shoulder.

"Something wrong?"

Sokka sighed. "No, noth-… well…he's too..."

What's the problem now? "He's what?"

Sokka stared ahead for a moment then chuckled softly to himself and looked at me with a small smile. "Forget it. It's completely unfounded. Terran's pretty cool and if Toph feels happy with him, then that's all that matters to me."

Somehow, I felt that wasn't the whole story, but decided to leave it alone. If there was something wrong, he would say so eventually.

Once we got home, we walked in to find Katara and Toph sitting in the kitchen. They helped us lay a now sleeping Terran on the couch and get a blanket for him, with Katara scolding us about his condition the entire time. As soon as Aang got home, we all turned in for the night except for Toph. She said she wanted to stay with Terran to wake him up for his job at the bath house early the next morning and so that he wouldn't freak out if he woke up during the night to find himself in the dark and not at his house. She curled up under some blankets on the other couch and bid us all a good night. As I climbed into bed, I wondered if she would actually stay on the other couch.


	9. Chapter 9

**Here's chapter 10, fresh out of the oven. Don't forget to leave a review, even if you don't have an account.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender. But wait. If I finish college, maybe I can get a high paying job and buy it. Yeah, best plan ever. (-laughs maniacally and goes off to plot-) **

* * *

**Terran's POV**

Ugghh. My head. I woke up to some very annoying, very blurry entity poking my face. Whatever that thing was needed to go away and let me sleep. I felt like I had been run over by a stampeding herd of buffalo-moose.

"Hey, you need to get up."

Strange. That sounded a lot like Toph, but that was impossible. I was at home sleeping in my room.

"Get up, already! You're going to be late to your job."

Why did my mom sound like Toph? Maybe it was a detail I've been too busy to notice. I turned over and pulled the covers up over my head. For some reason, the light in the room was very bright and irritating.

"Alright mom, I'll get up in a minute." I mumbled, not looking forward to my shift.

I heard my mom walk away, which was also very irritating. Every step pounded and echoed around in my head like an angry wolfbat trying to find its way out of a cave. I heard her fill something with water in my bathroom. Dammit! Why is _everything_ so loud?!

Suddenly, the blanket was ripped away from me and the next thing I knew, I was cold and soaking wet. Needless to say, I was now wide awake. As I surveyed my surroundings, I realized that I was not in my room or even in my house. I was lying on a sofa and staring at a smug looking Toph standing over me with a large bowl in one hand and a cup filled with something in the other.

"Well good morning to you too. What am I doing here?" I asked, wiping the water off my face.

Toph's smirk widened. "You really don't remember, do you? Man you must have been hammered last night."

"No offense or anything, but could you please stop talking so loud?!" Toph helped me off the couch and I rubbed my throbbing head. "My head feels about ready to explode."

Toph chuckled softly. "That, Book Worm, would be one of the many wonderful symptoms of what is called a hangover. I'm guessing you're also sensitive to light and sound right now."

"Uugghh. I feel like death warmed over. I can't work like this."

Toph pushed me over to the bathroom. "Sure you can, because I'm going to help. Here drink this. It's ginger flower tea. It'll help with the hangover. And these are some clothes Aang got from your house last night. Now hurry and wash up so we can get going."

At least I felt a little better once I came out of the bathroom. I didn't feel queasy anymore, but my head was still pounding. When we stepped outside, I noticed there wasn't much light yet since it was very early, which was a huge relief to my strained eyes. Then a thought popped into my mind.

"Toph, how did you know when to get me up?"

"I didn't. I just know that Momo likes to get up extremely early in the morning and go out to forage. So I figured if I got up when he did, it would be early enough to make sure you wouldn't be late. So…did it work?"

I looked at the sky. "Yeah, we'll actually be getting in a little early today. But Toph, you need to be careful. My boss is really strict. He believes in people relying on their own abilities to make it in life, so if he catches you helping me, I'll get in a lot of trouble."

Toph just smirked and adjusted her wrist bracers. "Relax. You're talking to the master of stealth. I'll be able to "see" anyone in that place before they even get close enough to see me, remember?"

I smiled at her knowing she was probably right. However, I was slightly more concerned about the unsuspecting customers and employees.

* * *

**Aang's POV**

Small rays of sunlight trickled into the room and onto my face as I woke up. Rubbing the sleep away from my eyes, I noticed the sleeping figure next to me yawn and snuggle closer to my chest. I smiled and ran my fingers through her hair. I really didn't want to get up, but hunger pains were gnawing away at my stomach, and eventually, I gave in. Careful not to wake Katara up, I slid out of bed, put a shirt on, and headed to the kitchen to make breakfast for everyone. Zuko, true to his element, was already up with the sun, and reading a scroll in the kitchen.

"Morning Zuko." I looked towards the couch. "Where is Terran?"

"He and Toph were already gone when I got up. Terran is at his job and Toph is…somewhere. Most likely causing someone trouble."

I took out the large tea pot and brewed some jasmine tea while I started making everything else: toast, fruit jam, eggs, rice, and steamed apples. Just as I was putting the tea pot on the table, Toph and Terran came into the house. Toph was giggling about something and Terran was shaking his head with a smile.

"Toph, you are an evil genius."

"Thanks, I try."

Zuko poured himself a cup of tea and sat at the table. "Toph, what did you do _now_?"

Toph managed to finally stop giggling. "I released a bunch of beetleroaches into the bath house and made it look like there was an infestation in the walls."

Zuko choked on his tea. "You what?!"

Terran grabbed a plate from the counter and started putting food on it. "Yeah, my boss was so worried about a lawsuit, that he closed the place for the rest of the day and let everyone go home with pay. You should have seen it. There were bugs everywhere!"

"Speaking of which," I pulled a stray beetleroach out of his hair. "you have one right here."

Zuko made a disgusted face. "Get that thing _away _from the food." Momo quickly took care of that issue by snatching it out of my hand and making a fast meal out of it.

"Hurry up Twinkle Toes, before Snoozles makes a clean sweep of everything." Toph said as she spooned some eggs onto her plate.

A while later, Sokka, Mai, Suki, and Katara ventured out of their rooms and into the kitchen.

"Sweet! Breakfast!" Sokka began his assault on the food.

When he sat down, Toph lightly pushed on his head. "Geez Snoozles, slow down and leave some for the rest of us. So Terran, you want to be my assistant for something I have to do today?"

"Sorry, but I can't. Master Yu is scheduled to give free lessons today in honor of the festival and I promised Tao I would take her."

Toph smirked. "That's what I'm doing today. A number of parents asked me at the last minute if I could teach their kids instead of Master Yu, and I agreed. Though it did take some…"persuasion" from me to get him to see the logic in the parents' requests. It's about time someone recognized his incompetency."

Sokka sat up and grinned at the small earthbender next to him. "Toph! Toph! Can I come? Please?"

Katara looked at him disapprovingly. "Sokka, you said you would be coming with the rest of us to the museum."

"But Kataraaaaa, museums are soooooo booooring!" His whining was enough to put a four year old to shame.

Katara sighed. "Fine, just stop whining."

Toph grabbed a few apples and started walking towards the door. "Great Snoozels. You can make sure those kids don't get on my nerves."

* * *

**Toph's POV**

"Ok everyone, settle down. We're about to begin. I need everyone to line up in front of me side by side." Low murmurs filled the army training area as the kids took their own sweet time. "Let's go, I haven't got all day! Front and center!" The kids immediately obeyed and quickly finished lining up, standing at full attention.

"Much better. For those of you who don't know me, I am Master Toph, earthbending master to the avatar, and I will be your instructor. Say hello to my two assistants, Terran and Sokka.

"Hi Terran and Sokka!"

I could hear Tao and some girl next to her giggling at her brother. "If we're all done laughing at secret jokes," I said, "looking" right at them and shutting them up immediately , "I first need to know if all of you know the standard basics. This is an intermediate level class and I will not be reviewing the basics. If you haven't mastered them yet, say so now."

When no one answered, I smiled and continued. "Good. The first technique I'm going to show you is how to form and manipulate a dirt whip. Sokka stand over there." I pointed to a spot on the side of me and once he was standing in place, I turned to face him. "One important thing to note is that since the dirt whip is far more flexible than an ordinary rock, the movement of your arm should also be slightly more fluid than the typical earthbending movements. Watch closely. Sokka, draw your sword."

I heard the familiar metallic _sing _noise, and I drew up a dirt whip out of the ground. I swung it a few times to get a feel for it, and then tried to hit Sokka.

"Notice how I don't have to stay as rooted as I usually would. This technique offers the advantage of fast, precise hits and enables the bender to move more freely and quickly." As Sokka continued to dodge my strikes, I felt his sword cut off part of my whip. "To rebuild the whip, simply swing it into the ground and pull it back up with dirt attached. DON'T use your other hand as this would be very inefficient. If your opponent attacks you, your other hand is free to block." Sokka kicked a small rock toward me and I promptly used my free hand to crumble it. I wrapped the whip around Sokka's blade and yanked the sword out of his hands, making sure to hit him with the hilt. Dropping the sword, I got hold of his ankle and swept him up off the ground. The kids laughed as Sokka dangled upside-down in midair.

"You love to humiliate me, don't you?" Sokka asked as I put him down.

"It's what I do best. Ok everyone, try it out on these two fancy targets."

Terran flinched and Sokka froze on the ground when I pointed to them. The kids split up into two groups and surrounded the two unfortunate guys. After about 20 minutes of listening to varied pitches of yelping sounds, I decided they had suffered enough. I could have sworn I heard Sokka growl at me when I corrected the stance of one of the kids.

"Don't worry guys, from now on they will be practicing on all three of us. I just wanted to get my dose of cruel fun for the day."

Terran walked up rubbing the back of his head. "You do realize that Tao will be chasing me around with dirt whips at home, right?"

I smirked. "Great. Then that means she has someone to practice with." I turned to face the kids. "Ok people, pay attention because this next one is a little more difficult, so don't beat yourselves up if you don't get it right away. Terran, you're up."

Terran stood about 10ft away from me and dropped into a fight stance.

"The rock armor move is a defensive technique that is most commonly used to shield against firebending attacks, though it can also save you from hard impacts. It involves covering yourself entirely in rock and being able to hold onto it."

I stomped my foot on the ground and at the same time, curled my arms halfway up to my chest while slowly closing my hands into fists. The earth under me rose up and encased me up to my neck in a protective layer of rock.

"Notice that when done correctly, my range of movement isn't restrained in any way. Restrained movement is the most common mistake made and leads people to wrongly believe that this technique isn't effective. The rocks should follow your every movement as if they were clothing. Terran, attack me."

Terran started off tossing a few boulders at me which I deflected with my arms. I then raised a wall behind me and beckoned him to throw some more. I allowed one particularly big rock to knock me flying into the wall behind me. I could hear the kids talking nervously to each other, wondering if I was ok.

"I'm fine, kids." I got up from the rubble. "That was just a demonstration of how the armor can protect you from hard hits. I won't be throwing anything at you, but I want you to try it now and see if either I or Terran can steal it from you."

The kids got into pairs and tried to form their own armor. A few of them were successful on their own, but the majority weren't getting it.

"When drawing the rocks toward you, remember to direct your chi inward."

This time, a lot more of them were successful, but all of them were moving very stiffly. After some correction, it seemed like everyone was doing it correctly. I had them walk and run around to make sure they could maintain their full range of motion. Then, I had them all stand in front of me and Terran to test the strength of their hold.

"Ok everyone, Terran and I are going to pull on the rocks in your armor, and I want you to maintain your control. Ready? Go!"

As me and Terran focused on the rocks, some of the kids maintained control, but I could feel others being over powered almost immediately. Some were losing control over individual rocks while others were simply being dragged toward us.

"Come on guys, I know you can do this. Focus a little more."

I could feel the kids pulling back much harder as they fought to keep their control. Through my chi connection, I could feel the stray rocks slowly gravitate back toward their original owners and the vibrations of the kids who were being dragged forward stopped .

"Ok not bad for your first try. Just keep practicing at home."

**Sokka's POV**

The day progressed as Toph instructed how to do small fissures, turn solid ground into a sand pit, and ride on waves of earth. Each new move only brought more pain and embarrassment for me and Terran, but Toph managed to keep us laughing, so it wasn't _that _bad. However, there was one thing that refused to stop nagging me. I noticed that unlike with me, Toph didn't hold back when she retaliated against small jokes Terran played on her. I watched as she bowled him over with a wave of earth after he sunk her into a sandpit. If she ever did something like that to me, she would run the risk of seriously injuring me. Even a playful rock thrown in my direction could be dangerous, but she didn't have to worry about that with Terran. They would occasionally get into playful bouts of tossing boulders at each other, sinking each other in the ground, etc. and I could see the joy on Toph's face at finally having someone on her level to rough house with. As I watched Terran, I felt a bit, dare I say it, handicapped.

I collapsed on the ground around sunset. I don't know how much more practicing…no, scratch that…_abuse_ I could possibly take from those little dirt monsters. Suddenly, I heard a bunch of low '_oooooohhhhh' _sounds coming from the kids. You know, the sound you usually hear when someone is about to get into a fight. Despite the burning sensation in my arms and legs, I managed to prop myself up on my elbows to see what was going on. All the kids were gathered in a large circle around Toph and Terran. I saw Toph standing over Terran and smirking with her foot planted firmly on his chest. Hmm, de-ja-vu.

"Say uncle."

Terran looked defiantly up at her and smirked. "If you're so tough, then why don't you make me?"

Toph looked surprised for a moment, but then widened her smirk and twisted her foot on the ground, causing Terran's arms and legs to sink in the ground. She slid her foot a little to the side, causing the ground to tighten around her victim. Just as I thought Terran would give in, he surprised everyone by jerking his head to the side, causing a pillar of earth to knock Toph off to the side. He then took the opportunity to free himself and get up. After all the playing around those two had been doing all day, you'd think they would be just as tired as I am. Where are they finding all this energy?!

Toph got up and dusted herself off. "So… you think you're game enough to challenge me, eh? Well bring it on, Book Worm. Stand back kids and watch what a master can do."

Toph brought her hands out in front of her, palms face down, and after a short while, stomped on the ground, sending a storm of rocks and sand flying towards Terran. He evaded by raising himself up on a wall similar to the way the Dai Li had when they surrounded us at Lake Laogi. Terran then slammed the wall back into the earth, forming a huge wave. Surfing on top, Toph redirected it back toward him. Terran tried to turn and run out of the way, but was ultimately swept up in the large mass of dirt. Toph jumped off, letting the dirt wave settle into a pile. The kids and I had a good laugh when Terran's dusty head popped up from the top of the pile. He crawled out of the dirt and used some of it to form a long whip. In one swift movement, he managed to wrap it around Toph's neck and tried to pull her towards him. By now all the kids were egging them on, with shouts of 'Go Terran!' and 'Show him what you're made of Master Toph!' The two earthbenders were locked in a tug-of-war match that neither appeared to be winning. That is until Toph cut the whip on her end. She then raised herself up on a twister of earth and Terran followed suit. Toph drew a long earthen rod from the twister she was riding on, hardened it and used it as a staff to swing at Terran's head just as he had finished stabilizing himself. Luckily, he was just barely able to dodge it.

"Hey! Watch it Toph!"

Toph just smirked at him and swung again. "What's the matter Book Worm? Can't keep up? Maybe next time you'll think twice before challenging the teacher."

Terran dodged another attempt from Toph to knock him off the top of his twister and formed his own earthen staff. "I'm a lot better than you think."

He swung at Toph's mid-section, and while she was still recovering from dodging, he instantly doubled back and hit her earth twister right about where her feet would be. Toph lost her balance and plummeted to the ground. But Terran wasn't about to let this opportunity to go wasted. He stayed close to her, giving her very little time to react to his attacks. But, with some quick thinking, Toph was able to push him away by shifting the ground beneath his feet at just the right moment. At this point Terran smirked and did his 8ft Rock Human move, only this time, more quickly than before.

"Come on Toph, let's take this up a notch."

Toph just tilted her head up at him and smirked. "Ha, I can do _way_ better than that!"

Toph literally dove underground. Nothing happened for about five minutes, then everyone felt the ground start shaking violently. Suddenly, a huge earthen hand burst out of the ground and started dragging the rest of itself up. It looked like some giant earth zombie-monster was crawling out of the ground! When the whole scene was finished unfolding, I was staring at some sort of giant earth monster that looked like it was waist-deep in the ground. It easily stood at least three feet over Terran, who was staring open mouthed. The only thing that was able to snap him out of it was that creature when it punched him hard and sent him flying backward. He didn't even have time to get up before that thing grabbed him and started swinging him around in the air. The monster, or should I say Toph, had apparently grown tired of this after a while, and simply pinned him on the ground under one of her massive hands and was applying steadily increasing pressure on him. With his rock armor easily cracking under the pressure and having no way out, he finally gave up.

"Ok, I give! Uncle! Uncle!"

The large hand drew back and the earth monster disappeared back into the earth. Toph sprung up out of the ground from a small hole that had apparently been behind the spectating kids the entire time. Looking just as smug as ever, she made her way over to Terran, who was still sprawled out on the ground and trying to catch his breath. She looked down at him and smirked victoriously before roughly lifting him up to his feet.

"So…what have we learned?"

Terran sighed and smiled at her. "Don't challenge the teacher…" He leaned down and kissed her right on her nose, making her blush cherry red and causing the kids to start either saying 'awwww' or 'eeewww'. "…no matter how fun it may be to embarrass her." Toph socked him in his shoulder, but smiled and dismissed the class.

"That's it kids, class is dismissed. But before you go, what's the most important thing I've taught you today aside from earthbending?"

All the kids smiled and replied in unison. "The Real Rules of Life."

"State them."

The kids looked confused for a moment, then brightened when they remembered them.

"Most nobles are thieving liars. It's not cheating if you cheat a cheater. Take every opportunity to stick it to The Man. No matter what people say, slow and steady doesn't always win the race. Always maintain a healthy level of insanity. Money can't buy friends, but it can buy other cool things. Stupid people will always breed faster than normal people."

Toph assumed a sage look. "You have learned well my young grasshoppers. Your parents are waiting for you."

The kids scattered and ran to their waiting parents. I got up and stood next to Toph and watched them.

"Corrupting the youth. Shame on you Toph."

"I prefer to think of it as telling them like it is. Now come on, Katara probably already has dinner ready."

My stomach started growling as I remembered what my sister was supposed to go to the market for today. "I hope so. She said she was making stewed sea prunes and roast arctic sealguana."

Toph scrunched her nose. "On second thought, I think I'll pass. I just go to some restaurant. Terran, you want to come? You can bring Tao with you."

"Actually, you could come have dinner with my family if you want. I'm sure my mom would love to have a chance to get to know you. Just watch out for my brother. He's still seething about his last encounter."

"Please, I'm not scared of Roan. See ya later Snoozles. Tell everyone I'm eating dinner with Terran's family."

Aw man. I was hoping Toph would eat with us. I love hearing her make jokes about Katara's sea prunes, even if they are my favorite food. "Ok, I'll let everyone know. Just get back before it gets too late. You know how Katara worries."

Tao was brimming with excitement. "Cool! We're gonna have so much fun! And don't worry about Roan," Tao grinned with a mischievous smile. "I heard him talking to one of his friends, and I think he's scared of you now."

Toph's smile now matched Tao's and she ruffled the girl's messy dark-brown hair. "Well then, let's see just how scared of me he really is."

The little girl giggled and Terran let her climb onto his back. As I watched the three of them walk away, I realized just how stupid I had been for criminalizing Terran. The guy is a good person and I don't think I could have wanted anyone else to be with Toph. I'll just have to get used to the idea of there being two guys that are special to her.

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	10. Chapter 10

**Finally, I am done with ch. 10. Please remember to R&R.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender. **

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**Tao's POV**

"That was so epic! Were you actually inside that thing?!"

Toph turned to stare at me with her milky green eyes. "Not exactly. I was controlling it from a remote location underground. You may not have noticed, but there was a small breathing hole behind you and the other students. That's where I was the whole time. It's something I've been working on. Pretty cool huh?"

"Totally. But how did you do it? In fact, how do you move around and not bump into anything. That is if you don't mind me asking."

She smiled. "Not at all. I was born blind, but I can "see" just fine by using earthbending to sense vibrations in the earth. Everything gives off vibrations, and I analyze them to know exactly what is happening around me. My way of seeing allows me to see things that normal people can't. For example, I can sense that there are exactly seven people in that house over there. There's one man, one woman, two girls, two boys, and the man is holding a baby. They will exit the house in five…four…three…two…one…"

I looked on the left side of the street at the house to which Toph was pointing. Right after she said 'one', seven people came out of the house in question, accurately fitting her description.

"Wow! So you can see through walls and stuff?"

"Yeah. I guess you could put it that way."

"You are so awesome! I can see why my brother likes you." I chuckled as I remembered the night we met Toph. "When we were watching you fight Roan, Terran looked like he was in a trance or something. He was even drooling a little."

I felt an agitated and deeply embarrassed Terran ram his elbow into my side. Toph started laughing which only made my brother turn a deeper shade of red.

"Tao, if you enjoy riding on my back, then you'll shut your mouth."

Honestly, Terran needs to learn how to laugh at himself. "What? Toph thinks it's cute."

Toph slipped her arm around Terran's. "Loosen up, Book Worm. That _is _kind of funny."

Book Worm? Is that some sort of pet name she has for him? I snickered at the thought. "Book Worm?"

Terran sighed. "Toph likes to give nicknames to people that are close to her. All of her friends have one too, so I'm not the only one."

"Well I think it's adorable. Hey Toph, do you have a nickname for Roan yet? Make it something stupid!"

Toph smirked. "I've been had a few names in mind for him."

Terran smiled weakly at her. "Go easy on him Toph. Being beaten up by a small blind girl in front of a large group of people was a little tough for him deal with."

"Don't worry. I'll stick with light insults…and maybe a prank or two."

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**Toph's POV**

I sensed Terran stop in front of a small building, which I could only assume to be his house. He let Tao slide down from his back and I heard the sound of a key being turned and the front door creaking open. When I stepped inside, I was relieved to find out that the floors were earthen, but the same couldn't be said for the walls, which were made of wood. Despite it being such a small house, it didn't feel cramped. After taking a minute to survey my surroundings, I sensed a feeling of warm coziness that was very inviting. I felt the vibrations of a woman standing in front of a stove and the smell of baked pig-chicken wafted through the house. Tao bounced off around a corner.

"Mom! We're home, and guess what?! Toph is gonna eat dinner with us!"

Somewhere above me, a muffled angry voice yelled 'What?!'. I heard a large cooking spoon being put down and the vibrations of footsteps made their way out of the kitchen and into the living room where I was standing with Terran.

"Well hello Toph. I would be happy to have you join us for dinner. I'm almost done cooking, so just make yourself at home. Tao, come help me set the table."

Just before they could return to the kitchen, I heard a set of heavy footsteps thudding against wooden stairs. I smirked once they reached the ground where I could see.

"You again?!"

"Roan, Toph is our guest and you will treat her with respect. Dinner is almost ready. Come on Tao."

The little girl followed her mom, leaving me, Terran and Roan alone in the room. Sweet.

Roan growled at me, and just to mess with him, I made like I was going to hit him. I chuckled when he recoiled involuntarily.

"Glad to know you remember who I am."

"Let's get something clear. I don't like you, I never will like you, and you will always be the scum of the earth to me, understand?"

Roan's mother, Maya, called in a stern tone. "Roan, you better not be making any trouble in there."

I smirked when he flinched. "Yeah Roan. You should try being nicer to me. I _am_ the guest after all."

Roan grumbled but stopped and spoke in a mocking tone. "Fine, let's chat for a while. Do you like being blind as a gopher-bat?"

I was completely unfazed by this and just continued to smirk at him. Two can play this game. "Did you like being everyone's bitch in jail?"

Terran snickered behind me and I could sense Roan heart rate speed up in anger. "Seems like you would know all about being someone's bitch. Honestly Terran, is a blind girl the best you could get?"

This time Terran decided to join the show. "It's a lot more than what you have."

"At least _I _had someone normal."

This one was too easy. "How'd you do that? Drop the soap?"

I felt Roan move toward me and I shook him slightly with a warning tremble through the ground, effectively stopping him in his tracks and making him back up to his original spot. Respect through fear; gotta love it.

"So _Jail Bird_…what's it like being scared to death of a small blind girl?"

"Jail Bird?!" If I didn't know he was an earthbender, I would have thought he was breathing fire right now.

"Like your new nickname? I think it suits you. But if you don't like it, how about Ass Wipe? Or maybe Pansy. Yeah, I think that one fits you nicely. I mean, think about it. You tried to gang up on a blind person half your size. That alone is pathetic. Then not only do your lackeys get knocked out like total newbs before they can even lift a finger, but you also get your ass handed to you? That is just too rich."

Roan sounded like he was speaking through clenched teeth. "I didn't know you were blind."

"But you did see a small and seemingly defenseless girl. Face it, _Pansy_, you pulled a punk move and still got your ass kicked."

Even though I couldn't see it, I could tell Roan was boiling just under the surface. Just to drive the message home I grabbed the front of his shirt and yanked him down to where I assumed would be eye level.

"And just so you know, if you ever mess with me again, I'll make sure you get _two_ servings of iron."

I roughly shoved him away just as Maya was calling us to the table.

**Terran's POV**

Everyone took their seat at the table, with me sitting next to Toph on one side, Roan sitting next to Tao on the other side, and my mom sitting at the head of the table. As we filled our plates, I noticed my mother smile sweetly at Toph.

"So Toph, how did youlike teaching the free class today instead of Master Yu?"

Toph looked up from her plate. "The kids were fun to work with. Unfortunately, a certain assistant of mine decided to set a bad example and challenge my authority. Isn't that right, _Terran_?"

Toph looked jokingly at me and poked me in my ribs. Mom chuckled. "Terran, what did you do?"

"I just wanted to see for myself what Toph could do. Though I don't think I'll be doing that again for a while."

"Yeah mom, you should have seen her! She had this one move where she made a giant sand monster come out of the ground!" Tao's expression changed to one of slyness. "But I'm sure Roan knows all about Toph's skills."

Roan glared at the smug looking girl next to him. "Shut up, Tao!"

"Roan, you are already on thin ice. Either be nice or you can eat your dinner upstairs, and Tao, stop teasing your brother." Mom gave them a stern look and both of them went back to silently eating their meal. "Toph, I don't remember you ever mentioning your family. What are they like?"

Toph stopped eating and stared at her plate with a look of uneasiness. I wondered if she would even decide to tell, but my question was soon answered.

"My parents are good people but they don't get me."

Mom looked questioningly at her. "What do you mean?"

Toph sighed and looked like she was searching for the best way to answer. "Since the day I was born, every time my parents looked at me, all they ever saw was a small blind girl who they thought was too weak to do anything. They don't understand that I can do things for myself. They were so over protective of me that they hid me away from the world for the first 12 years of my life and had me guarded at all times. They wouldn't even allow me to develop my bending properly, so I had to sneak out and teach myself. Fortunately, I was able to find a suitable teacher."

"Oh that's terrible."

"It's ok. When Aang and his friends showed up at my house looking for an earthbending teacher, I was able to leave with them. They're my family now," Toph chuckled "complete with older siblings that are fun to annoy."

Mom smiled warmly at her. "Well that's good to hear. Everyone needs a family they can turn to. Though I do hope you'll eventually work things out with your parents. So…Terran tells me you and your friends live in the Fire Nation. What's it like?"

"It's hot. Well…during the spring and summer. Despite it being called the FIRE Nation, it can get to be pretty cold during the winter, but never to the point of snow, so that's a plus for bare foot people like me. As for the people…well let's just say that before moving there, I had no idea that nationalism could reach levels like that. May the spirits help you if you talk trash about their nation. But they're good people though. But I am convinced that their digestive system is different from everyone else's, because I can't think of any other way for them to be able to ingest food that is so spicy, it will make anyone breath fire regardless of their bending capabilities."

"Well I'm sure Terran will have plenty of time to learn about the Fire Nation when he leaves with all of you at the end of the festival." Mom sighed and a hint of sadness entered her voice. "Though it will be sad to watch my baby leave. Who would have guessed that my son would end up working for the firelord?"

Here we go again. I slouched in my chair and groaned. "Moooooom."

Mom just smiled at me. "What? I'm not allowed to be proud of my own child? Besides, after raising you for 17 years, I have a right as a mother to be sentimental. In fact I remember when you were just two years old-"

"Mom, please! Don't! Girlfriend…right here!"

But the large grin on Toph's face told me my embarrassment was only just beginning. "Nonsense! I would _love_ to hear stories about when Terran was little."

What did I do to deserve this? I simply hid my face in my hands and prepared for the worst.

"When you were two, you had this strange belief that your blanket was alive and was out to get you." Toph, Roan and Tao started snickering. "Though now I think that may have been the result of Roan telling you something that wasn't true."

Mom looked disapprovingly at Roan who was now practically falling out of his seat. "Anyway, one afternoon, I had put you down for a nap and went into the kitchen to finish a new recipe I was trying out. A short while later, I heard screaming coming from your room. I rushed in thinking that something horrible had happened, only to find you cowering in a corner and staring at your bed. When I asked you what was wrong you told me that your blanket was moving all by itself and that it was going to hurt you. I looked back at the bed and saw that a breeze was blowing through the open window and rustling the blanket. I tried telling you that nothing was going to hurt you, but you were too scared to listen. When the breeze picked up and made the blanket rise up a little, you screamed and ran out of your bedroom and out the front door."

Toph burst out laughing and Mom chuckled. "You ran down the street in nothing but your underwear, screaming your head off and attracting the attention of the neighbors. It was a long time before me and a few of the people on our street finally found you."

By now, Toph and Tao were struggling to catch their breath and I was secretly wondering if it was possible to actually die of embarrassment.

Toph roughly prodded me in my side. "Oh come on, this is hilarious. Maya, do you know anymore stories?"

I looked in horror as mom smiled and looked like she was trying to think of another, possibly even more humiliating memory. I was sure Toph could feel the heat radiating from my face. In fact, that's probably why she wants to hear more about the less proud moments of my childhood.

Mom told one humiliating story after another. I swear its like she thinks its her job or something. Everything from awkward first experiences to embarrassing fears was mentioned.

"Oh! This is a really cute one. I think Terran was about five. We decided to get him a pigmy puma because those horrible little boys in the town would beat him up and he had trouble making friends."

I don't think mom noticed when Toph kicked the floor under the table and made Roan stop laughing like hyena-tiger, though I could see she was trying to hold back her own laughter. Great, now she probably thinks I'm weak.

"Terran's father had heard from one of the customers in the restaurant that an animal merchant was passing through town and had a few pigmy puma kittens for sale. Terran was so excited and practically dragged us all the way to where the merchant had set up shop. As I spoke with the merchant, I noticed that the pigmy pumas didn't look too happy and kept yowling and hissing for some reason. It wasn't until I looked down into their cage that I realized it was because Terran was eating their food and wouldn't share any of it with them. The merchant said that it was the funniest thing he had ever seen."

Toph almost fell out of her seat from laughing so hard. "Terran, you actually ate cat food?! I'll need to remember _that_ one!"

Mom chuckled and continued. "I was surprised that the merchant didn't seem to mind at all. He brought out the kittens and Terran picked the one that jumped on him. He named him Kyji (**A/N: Keejee)** and they've been inseparable ever since."

Toph stopped laughing and looked curious. "So that means you still have him? Where is Kyji?"

I smiled, realizing my opportunity to change the subject and put an end my mother's embarrassing story telling. "Oh he's probably upstairs somewhere. He usually comes running at the sound of food hitting the floor." I grabbed a pig-chicken leg and dropped it on the floor. We immediately heard scratching and shuffling from above and soon a blur of grayish black fur came whizzing into the kitchen and attacked the free meat on the floor. He refused to let go of the leg as I picked him up and set him down in Toph's lap. I was a little shocked at how gentle she was with him.

"He seems friendly."

Tao got down from her chair and took her dishes to the sink. "Don't let him fool you. He destroyed plenty of my socks and still thinks its fun to pounce on me in the mornings."

Once finished with the pig-chicken leg (bone and all), Kyji started licking his paws and purred contently as Toph continued to stroke him. I collected mine and Toph's empty plates as she got up and cradled Kyji like he was a human infant while rubbing his belly. Kyji, needless to say, was soaking up all the attention.

"Hey, whenever I do that, he gets agitated and runs off."

Toph looked up at me and smirked. "Meh. It's a gift."

Tao walked up to Toph and lifted Kyji from her hands. "Sorry Toph, but Kyji has been smelling wild lately." She looked at the struggling ball of fur in her hands. "Let's go, old timer. You need a bath."

As soon as Tao said 'bath', Kyji went insane, bucking and hissing like he was about to be slaughtered as Tao, grinning, hauled him upstairs to her bathroom.

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**Toph's POV**

After saying my good-byes to everyone, Terran offered to walk me home. He walked as if he were slightly hunched over and I could tell he was trying to hide his face from me.

"You know, your folks aren't all that bad."

"Yeah, well, I just wish if mom wouldn't tell such humiliating stories. I can only imagine what she'll be like when I actually leave. Oh, before I forget…" I heard Terran's clothes rustling as he dug around for something. He pressed a piece of paper into my hands. "Give that to Zuko. It's the ownership papers to the restaurant."

I pocketed the document. "No problem. Soooo…" I said in a sly manner.

Terran's heartbeat rose a little and he stepped away from me. "What?"

"What other crazy things did you do as a kid?"

Terran lightly shoved me to the side. "Like I'd really tell you. So what was up with you and Kyji? I know you have a badgermole and all, but I had no idea you had such a soft spot for animals."

I turned my head away, trying to hide the creeping blush that was slowly heating up my face. "I do _not_ have a soft spot for animals."

"Toph, you were treating him like he was a baby. You're an animal lover, and there's nothing wrong with that."

"Yeah, yeah, just don't tell anyone. Especially Sokka- he'll never let me live it down."

"Why not? I'm sure he- ahhh!"

Terran never finished his sentence. He tripped over a plank of wood lying in the middle of the road. With quick reflexes, I softened the ground under him to absorb the impact.

"You didn't see that piece of wood? It should have been in plain view for you."

"Not everyone can see in the dark like you. I just wish if the city would put more lamps in this area. This place is practically a breeding ground for crime at night. You should really watch yourself out here." Terran said, brushing the dirt off his clothes and continuing to walk .

Please, I can handle any two-bit, moronic thief in these parts. "Well if some bad person attacks us, you can just beat them up like you beat up those kids in your town." I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Aww, come on. Surely you have more faith in me than that. I could be your heroic prince." I felt him pull a sword-shaped rock from the ground and swing it around in what he thought was a 'heroic' manner.

"Sorry, but by the time you get there, I'll have already saved myself. Uhhgg. My mother used to tell me those stupid fairy tales and I hated every last one of them. Some girl gets locked away in a castle or an equally elaborate estate, and has to wait there for some man in shining armor to come save her. I really hate the ones that are set in the fire nation, because they usually involve a dragon for the hero to defeat. Fuck that! Why can't she save herself?! Think about it. The dragon or whatever villain of the story would never see it coming! If that were me, I'd turn that stupid dragon into steaks."

Terran answered in a quiet tone. "I know. I'd still come for you anyway. But you'd have to share some of the steaks with me."

Well, I had to give the guy points for dedication. "So tell me, oh heroic prince, how exactly would you confront a villain?" I said with a mock snotty, high society accent.

I could practically hear the smile in Terran's voice as he played along with an identical accent. "Fear not, my fair lady, for I will see to it that every riff-raff who dares to make their threat known will be dealt with swiftly and severely. With my trusty sword, I'll gut them all like hapless fish."

"My hero!" I said as I punched him square in his shoulder. He tried to swing the rock sword at me but I ducked just in time and ran off in the direction of my house. I could hear Terran calling after me.

"Come back here and face me!"

I just stopped where I was and smirked in his direction. "And what are you gonna do if I don't?"

Terran was silent for a moment, and then I felt his vibrations fast approaching toward me. We chased each other all the way to my house, each of us taking random shots at the other. I'm sure the other people around us thought we were crazy. Especially a certain unlucky cabbage merchant whose stand we accidentally destroyed in the midst of our careless roughhousing.

We reached my front porch still laughing about the whole thing.

"I wish you could have seen that lady's face, Toph. She looked so pathetic waving her fist at us."

"You mean the one who had so many _wonderful _things to say about us? Yeah, I gave her something to complain about. She had a lot of nerve calling us delinquents."

An uncomfortable silence settled over us. It's moments like this when I curse the awkwardness of adolescence. Now I was trying to think of something a bit more on the polite side to get him to leave.

"So, um…yeah. Thanks for dinner, your folks are great people, and I'll be going inside now. Later."

Terran stepped a little closer to me. "So I don't get a good night kiss?"

"Sure I could do that. And then I'll tuck you in and read you a bedtime story."

He closed the distance between us and wrapped his arms around my waist. "Seriously, just one?"

I would have told him no, but then after all the humiliation he went through today, well, that would just suck.

"Ok, but make it quick."

I felt him tilt my head up and soon his lips were on mine as he pulled me closer to him in a tender kiss. And then we broke apart. Or at least that's what I was expecting to happen. But for whatever reason, reality decided not to comply with my expectations. After a few seconds, I slowly became aware of the fact that I was now gradually moving backward until my back hit one of the wooden columns that supported the roof of the porch. Assuming that I knew the kind of person Terran was, I expected things to stop there. But that was because I had forgotten that reality didn't care about my expectations. Suddenly, the next thing I know, I can no longer sense my surroundings. You can probably imagine the panic that was flooding inside me. Until I felt Terran's thigh supporting my weight and keeping me in a sitting position. Now, you'd think I would draw the line at him lifting me off the ground. But as soon as I felt him press me further against the column, all angry thoughts vanished from my love-clouded head. Instead of punching him for separating me from my precious earth, I wrapped my arms around his neck and deepened the kiss that should have been over by now. To tell you the truth, I didn't think the book worm had it in him to test my boundaries like that.

So let's recap. I had somehow allowed Terran to go from an innocent kiss good night to our current…situation. We went from cute, to Terran feeling under my shirt. And I can tell you that I was _so_ much happier for it, even if I didn't want to admit it right away. Even after we broke apart after what seemed like an eternity, I still didn't want to let go of him. So instead we just stayed that way while he nuzzled my face.

"So I take it that you two are done?"

I felt both our hearts skip a beat as we realized that the person we heard was Zuko and we weren't the only ones on the porch anymore. Terran immediately set me back on the ground where I could sense who the audience was. Zuko, Katara, Aang, and Suki were all standing in the door way, and all were chuckling at the scene.

Terran was the first to speak. "How long were you guys standing there?"

"Long enough." I could hear the smirk in Zuko's voice.

Can't I have one romantic moment without it being ruined? "So you all stood there and watched us? You perverts!"

I felt Katara close the door behind her. "Yeah, but it was Suki's idea. We just wanted to see how long it would be before you noticed us standing here. Besides, it's not like you give any of us the same kind of respect."

"Go. Away. NOW!"

They drifted back inside, all cracking up laughing.

I sighed and turned back to Terran. "Sooo…good night?"

"Yeah, I should probably leave. Good night."

Terran hugged me one last time before he walked down the steps of the porch and headed for home. And once I was sure that he was out of sight, I smiled before heading inside to deal with my so called "friends."

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	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11 is finally here. Unfortunately, I won't start writing the next one until mid December after finals. But I promise that I'll update more often at that point.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of its characters. However, after Christmas, I do hope to own the series box set. -fangirl squee-**

**Suki's POV**

"Suki. Suuukiii. Wake up."

One heavy eyelid opened to see Toph standing over me next to my bed and gently prodding my shoulder. I closed my eyes and groaned as she continued to whisper my name in an attempt to get me up for something. I clumsily pushed her hand away and pulled the blankets up over my head. But this did absolutely nothing to discourage the determined little earthbender.

"Suki. I need your help. Is Sokka in here?" This was the last day that we would be staying for the World Festival and I really wanted to enjoy sleeping in while I still could. Can't she go and bother someone else?

Too lazy to uncover my head, I answered her in a groggy voice. "No, he left to go visit Master Piandao somewhere in the city. What do you want?"

Toph uncovered my head. "I want you to help me pick out a dress."

My eyes flew open at the strange request. Toph never willing puts on a dress, much less go shopping for one. I sat up and faced her and was even more confused by her impish smirk.

"Who are you and what have you done with Toph?"

Toph just shook her head. "Not for me. For Sokka. Remember?"

It finally clicked in my head when her smirk widened. Hmmm. Sokka in a dress. Scary, but intriguing.

"Go on…"

"I need you to help me pick out the worst possible dress for him to wear. Preferably one with lots of ruffles and whatever else is extremely girly."

"Ok, count me in."

Toph left the room, and I quickly got up and dressed before heading to the kitchen to eat something. Katara was already up and munching on a moon peach.

"Morning, Suki. Do you have any idea as to why Toph looks so happy today? Last night she looked about ready to murder someone."

"She asked me to help pick out a dress for Sokka to wear."

Katara froze in mid bite. Her cerulean eyes stared at me in confusion.

"Ummm…why?"

"To make a long story short, Sokka lost a bet and now he has to wear a dress. Toph and I are going out today to get the girliest one we can find."

Then the strangest thing happened. An evil grin sketched its way across Katara's face.

"Well if you're looking for a dress, you'll need my help. You won't find one off the rack that will fit Sokka properly, so it'll have to be tailored. I know of this lady who owns a dress shop and is the best at tailoring."

I felt my excitement growing until I remembered one important fact. "But Sokka isn't here to be measured, and the only dress measurements I have for him is from when I forced him to wear a Kyoshi Warrior uniform four years ago."

Toph came out of her room grinning. "Let's go Suki. We'll try a few of the dress shops on the west side of the Upper Ring."

"Toph, wait. Katara is coming with us, and we need someone close to Sokka's size to try on dresses so we can get the tailoring right."

Toph raised a curious eyebrow. "Who are we going to get to do that? I can tell you right now that Zuko won't do it no matter how much force I use."

Katara got up to get another moon peach. "What about Terran? He looks close enough."

"I seriously doubt it. Plus, I don't feel like waiting for him finish his work shift. And Aang is out of the question. He's too thin to be used for comparison."

Katara rubbed her chin in thought. "Actually, Aang might work. He may be a little on the thin side, but I know my brother well enough to make a good estimate based on Aang's measurements."

Toph scoffed at Katara's suggestion. "That may be true, but even Aang couldn't be convinced to do that. He not _that _soft."

Katara just smirked at her. "You'd be surprised at what you can get guys to do if you know how to ask them. Watch and learn. Or listen in your case. Aang! Could you come here for a minute?"

Aang stepped through the open back door and walked over to Katara. "Yes?"

Katara used the sweetest voice she knew. "Aang, could you help us pick out a dress? I would be so happy to have your input."

Most likely thinking he'd get to see Katara in a new beautiful dress, Aang's face broke out in a wide grin. "Sure, I'd love to help!"

* * *

**Aang's POV**

'I'd love to help?' Note to self: stop mindlessly going along with just any request that Katara asks. Me modeling dress after dress wasn't exactly what I considered as "input". But I should have known something was up when I heard suspicious giggling behind me when we all walked into the dress boutique. Even after the girls told me what my 'job' would actually be after I suggested some dresses for Katara try on, I was still somehow convinced into doing it. But what could I do? It's almost impossible for me to say no to Katara's 'puppy face'.

"Aang, are you almost done in there?"

I looked down at the current dress I was forced to try on and cringed. "Umm…wouldn't it be better if you just looked at it in here? Where other people can't see?"

I heard Katara sigh just on the other side of the curtain that separated my changing area from the rest of the shop. "Aang, everyone knows the dress isn't for you. Now come out of there so we can see it."

I hope this place doesn't have too many windows. I slowly pulled the curtain back and stepped out in front of Katara, Suki, and Toph, looking around nervously.

Toph smirked when she sensed my elevated heartbeat. "So how does it look on him?"

Suki looked a bit disturbed as she took in the sight of me wearing a red satin dress that was obviously _way _too short for me. It was then that I realized just how tall I had gotten since I was 12.

"Toph, do you really want to subject Sokka to this kind of treatment? I mean, this is wrong on so many levels."

I looked incredulously at her. "Ohhh no. As much as I think Toph shouldn't have made that bet in the first place, Sokka had better wear a dress at some point in time. People have already seen me, and there is no way I did this for nothing. Toph, is this the one you want or not? I really want to get back in the changing room. People are pointing and staring at me."

Toph looked at Suki. "What do you think? Humiliating enough?"

Suki looked thoughtfully at me. "No, it could definitely get much worse than that. And it's satin. Much too delicate for Sokka to wear. He'd probably ruin the material within the first five minutes. Aang, get back in the changing room."

I more than happily flew back behind the curtain that seemed to be my only friend right now. A few moments later, a tiny hand appeared with a mass of pink fabric.

I sighed, put it on and stepped out to be judged. Suki and Katara instantly broke out into a fit of giggling, and Toph grinned at their reaction.

I blushed as I noticed the other shop patrons staring at the all-powerful avatar wearing a dress. Some little kid even asked his mother if I had gone insane.

Seeming to be satisfied with the people's reactions, Toph nodded her head. "This one. Definitely this one."

I breathed a huge sigh of relief and turned around to go back into the changing room when I felt a hand tug me back. I turned around to see Katara position my arms out on either side.

"Katara, what are you doing?"

Katara pulled out a tape measure and measured my waist. "Taking measurements. We don't want Sokka to accidentally rip the dress, do we?"

By now, I had learned to block out the colorful comments I was getting from the other shoppers. I looked down at the dress I was currently wearing and instantly felt bad for Sokka. It was bright pink with long sleeves and ruffles at the bottom. It had a moderate neck line with a beautiful cream colored swirling pattern on it and was supposed to stop just above the ankles, though on me it stopped just below my knees. On an actual girl, this would have looked very nice. On me and Sokka, it would look like something comparable to a horror novel.

"Katara, seriously. Are you almost finished? I'm the _avatar_. Little kids look up to me. How do you think I look to them wearing a dress?"

"Aang, from the way you behave, half the time those kids think you're one of them."

Once Katara was finished and I was back in my regular clothing, she grabbed the dress and brought it up to the front along with the measurements and spoke to the lady standing there. She then returned smiling.

"Ok. The dress will be done in about an hour." Suki looked at her in disbelief. "I told you that lady was the best in tailoring. So anyway, Aang, you stay here and wait for the dress while the rest of us go get Sokka. Toph, do you know where he is?"

Toph shook her head. "Only that he's visiting his old sword master somewhere. We'll have to search for him." She smirked. "But that shouldn't be hard."

**Toph's POV**

We left Aang in the shop and headed out to the streets. I grew annoyed as Suki and Katara crowded ever closer to me as they waited for my response.

"Hey, back up! You're messing up my concentration."

Once they backed up and gave me some breathing room, I stomped on the ground to send out large vibrations. As I sifted through all the vibrations of the people crowding the streets, I finally found Sokka's vibration signature about a half mile away and locked onto it.

"Come on. He's this way."

* * *

**Sokka's POV**

"Sokka, I must say, I am impressed with how much you have improved since we last met. At this rate, you'll be an even better swordsman than I am."

"Thank you master. But to be honest, a lot of my improvement came from Toph and my sister constantly picking on me."

Master Piandao chuckled as we stopped to look at some pottery at a stand. "Some of the best lessons are those we learn from others."

I was examining a nice purple vase when I heard Suki's voice from among the stands somewhere.

"Toph, I think we should take over from here. There are way too many stands and shops here with wooden floors."

I turned in the direction of her voice and saw Toph emerge from the sea of stands, followed by Suki and Katara.

"Yeah, I guess so. I've lost track of him, so he's probably standing on wood. Spread out and search. Sokka is somewhere in this area."

Looking at the ground, I realized that I had indeed stepped onto a wooden platform. Judging from the way they were searching for me, it probably wasn't a good idea for the girls to find me. However, just as I turned to make myself scarce, someone hugged me from behind and almost knocked me forward. I twisted my head to see that it was Suki.

"Sokka! There you are. Toph, Katara! He's over here!" Suki turned back to me and smiled. "Sweetie, would you mind coming with us for a while?"

Under normal circumstances, I would have happily gone with Suki. But seeing them search for me like I had committed a crime made me suspicious of her intentions. I narrowed my eyes at the seemingly innocent girl clinging to my waist.

"Why?"

"Just… you know…to spend some time together."

"You're not fooling anyone. What's the real reason?"

Suki's smile faded as Toph and Katara took positions on either side of me. Toph grinned and eerily locked her eyes with mine.

"I believe you have a promise to keep. A certain promise that we agreed was my choosing as to when you fulfilled it?"

My eyes widened as I remember the bet I lost a few days ago.

Toph grabbed my arm and pulled. "Now Snoozles, you can make this easy and come quietly or you can make this difficult and we'll drag you off kicking and screaming. I'd suggest that you choose the easy way."

I knew there was no way I could talk my way out of this. So I gave the next plan a try.

"Master Piandao! Could I get some help over here?"

But I hadn't expected my master to have heard every word said. "Sokka, if you made a promise, you should honor it. A good swordsman always honors his promises."

"But…but…"

"No buts, Snoozels. Don't make me have to use force."

Seeing no other way out of my predicament, I made ready to go with them peacefully. Until I realized that the area we were in was very crowded and there were plenty of wooden platforms for me to walk, or, you know, _run_ on. I looked around and saw a small opening in the crowd for me to disappear into. Without saying anything else, I roughly shoved all three girls away from me and made a run for it.

I heard Toph's surprised voice call out behind me. "You coward! He's escaping! After him!"

But my head start was short lived. I looked back to see them chasing after me with Katara and Toph weaving through the crowd and Suki jumping from roof to roof.

Making sure to stay on wooden floors, I ducked in and out of stands and other shops and buildings until I had somehow got them off my trail. For the moment. I climbed out the window of the building I was in and onto the roof top. A few minutes later, I hid behind a corner when I heard Suki's voice below me.

"Guys, I've lost track of him."

Toph stomped the ground. "And that little skunk-weasel is staying on wooden floors so I can't see him. We'll have to split up. He can't hide forever."

I shuddered at Toph's words, mostly because she was right. I couldn't hide forever. Katara picked up some of my tracking skills over the years, Suki is a freaking ninja **(A/N: I think the Boiling Rock proves this)**, and Toph could see me within a 2 mile radius from her if I even so much as breathed on anything made of earth or metal. They will find me eventually. But I could still savor every moment that I didn't have to spend in a dress.

I waited a while after they dispersed, then carefully jumped from roof to roof taking care not to make too much noise or stay out in the open lest I run into Suki up here. But my heart nearly popped out of my chest when I ran out of roofs to jump on and realized I would have to run an extended distance on the ground to reach my destination: the roof top of the Fancy Lady Day Spa. The last place they would think to look for me. I took a deep breath, jumped off the roof and sprinted for my hide away. I nervously began looking around me for any signs of Toph. Not seeing any, my excitement grew as I neared the "safe zone". Come on, almost there… CRASH! I tumbled to the ground as I slammed into a fellow pedestrian.

"Hey, can't you watch where you're going! I could've…Sokka? Why are you running through the streets?"

I looked up to see Terran get up and dust himself off. He held his hand out and helped me up.

"Terran! I… uh… was running from some people. Let's talk over here."

I pulled him the rest of the way to the day spa and forced him up onto the roof.

"Sokka what are we doing up here? And why do you keep shushing me?"

I looked at the street below us then looked back at him. "Toph, Suki, and Katara are after me, ok?"

"Why are they after you?"

"Look, let's just say that horrible things will happen to me if I get caught. Will you _please_ help me?"

"I don't know…"

"Come on, us guys gotta stick together, right? Think about it. Toph's annoying hijinks could be directed at you the next day, and you would want me to help you, right?"

"I guess so…"

"Great! Then you understand?"

Terran smiled at me. "I understand completely."

At that point, I felt something wrap around my wrists and ankles. It was then that I realized the shingles on the roof were clay and Terran had just bent them into shackles. He then pushed me over onto my side and yelled down to the streets.

" Hey! I got him! He's over here!"

Next thing I knew, Suki had jumped up on the roof and helped carry me down, but not before snickering at the condition she found me in. As soon as she and Terran set me down, Toph ran up and sunk me in the ground up to my knees. All I could do was stare at Terran in disbelief.

"Traitor! How could you?!"

Toph hugged on his arm and smirked at me. "Oh shut it, you big crybaby. Terran never betrayed you. I saw him just after we lost track of you and he agreed to help us catch you. He was working for us the whole time."

I narrowed my eyes at the traitorous earthbender standing there all smug. "Oh, so that's the way it is, huh?"

Terran just shrugged his shoulders and smiled. "Sorry, but seeing you in a dress is too priceless to pass up."

Toph grinned evilly and poked my head. "And just wait until you see the dress we picked out for you. We even had it specially tailored. Hope you like pink ruffles."

My eyes widened in horror. "PINK RUFF- mphh!"

Before I could finish, Katara froze my mouth shut with water from her pouch. As I continued my pathetic struggling, Toph freed me from the ground, and Suki and Terran carried me off behind Katara. We stopped in front of some dress shop where I could see Aang waiting out front with a large decorative box. I was set down and immediately encased up to my neck in rock. However, when I saw Aang take the dress out of the box, I couldn't help but struggle a little against my rocky prison even though I knew it was pointless. I was finally released from the rock and clay shackles, but then four huge walls surrounded me and the dress was thrown over.

"Get dressed, Snoozles! And don't even _think _about pulling a fast one on me."

Grumbling, I changed into the pink dress and threw my clothes over the wall. I heard giggling on the other side before the walls lowered back into the ground. There was a moment of stunned silence before everyone burst out laughing. I just stood there and silently cursed everyone involved in this madness. I glared at Katara and pointed to my still frozen shut mouth. She melted the ice away and I could finally speak.

Toph smirked at me. "So Snoozels, how ya liking the dress? I do hope it's pretty enough."

Terran's face had turned red from laughing so much. "Hey Sokka, what's it like wearing a dress?"

I turned to my two least favorite earthbenders at the moment and growled at them through my teeth as I struggled to keep from attacking them. "I'm going to kick. your. ass."

Toph got behind me and started pushing. "Yeah yeah. Vengence shall be yours and all that crap. Now let's go. I think the public deserves something exciting to look at, don't you?"

With the dress I'm wearing, I think I'm going to mentally scar the public instead of entertain them. Fortunately, I was allowed to keep my shoes, though that probably only made the outfit look even worse. At least it fit properly.

Aang hooked Katara's arm in his. "You guys go on. I don't think I can take another minute of looking at Sokka dressed that way."

They went off down the road and I groaned at Toph. "Toph, how far do I have to walk?"

Toph just smirked and prodded me forward with a long stick she found lying on the ground. "As far I want you to walk. Now get!"

I yelped when she poked me hard in the back. Not wanting to upset her by running off again I sighed and trudged forward on my long walk of shame.

We walked all through the streets of upper and middle Ba Sing Se, Toph poking me every time I stopped. I think my cheeks will be forever red from all the comments and stares I was getting from the curious onlookers. Wait a minute. I just have to wear the dress. That doesn't mean I have to be miserable. I should do what I do best: comedy.

"Hey ladies, I can totally see why you all love to wear dresses. Look at all the attention it brings! But seriously, folks. A real man can wear whatever he wants and still feel comfortable with himself."

Some guy in the crowd started jeering at me.

"Uh oh. Looks like someone isn't a real man."

The guy scowled at me. "I'm not the one wearing some stupid dress!"

"Woah, hey. Chill out, buddy. You know what? I'm sorry. I'm sorry that you feel so insecure about yourself that your manliness is defined by the clothes that you wear."

Some of the people chuckled at him as he continued to scowl, only now with a light blush. I noticed Toph looking very confused. Ha! I had found a way to turn her little shame game on it's head.

"Ok everyone, I want your honest opinion. Does this dress make me look fat?" I asked, striking a few silly poses.

Some people were laughing and holding their sides. But a group of girls didn't look amused at all.

"What's the matter ladies? Jealous? Don't hate me 'cause I wear this better than you _ever_ could."

The girls turned their noses up in disgust and stalked off.

"Yeah that's right, just walk away. Ya'll haters know you can't touch this! I look damn hot in this dress!"

Now Suki and Terran were enjoying the show, and everyone was roaring with laughter. Toph didn't look too happy about her plan not going the way she wanted, but even she cracked a genuine smile.

But I could tell that this wasn't over. Toph marched up and pushed me through the crowd.

"Nice show, Snoozels. But I'm not giving up that easily."

I groaned from the soreness of my feet. We had been walking for quite a while, and though everyone else seemed to be thoroughly enjoying themselves at my expense, my hurting feet and the hot summer sun was starting to get to me.

"Toph, can't we stop for a while? I need to rest for bit." I tried looking pleadingly at her until I realized it would have absolutely no effect. But for once for that entire day, someone was on my side.

"Toph, let him rest. We can't let him collapse from heat exhaustion, especially since we're the ones who made him wear long sleeves in the middle of summer." Suki said, giving me one of her fans so I could cool myself.

Toph, knowing that Suki wouldn't give in, pointed toward a large fountain. "Fine, we can rest over there."

Not wasting any time, I rushed over to the cool, refreshing water and splashed my flushed face. I honestly don't understand how I'm the only one who is uncomfortable in this heat. And the stone streets didn't make things any better as they only served as giant reflectors. But then again, the people currently with me were all from the Earth Kingdom and probably used to it.

Toph sat next to me, and, in my haste to cool off, I accidentally splashed her with some water. Toph shrieked and promptly shoved me backward into the fountain and moved away from me. Despite it being humorous, I didn't dare splash her with any more water for fear of becoming part of the fountain. I climbed out and started wringing the water out of the dress. Good thing this wasn't made of anything delicate. Suki was currently occupied with some children who were very interested in her metal fans. I smiled as she showed them how the fans were used, gracefully executing a string of attacks that looked more like a dance. It's moments like this when I realize just how lucky I am.

"I am _not _afraid of water!" Toph's voice ripped through my thoughts. I turned back to her and found Terran now sitting next to her.

"Then why did you shriek like that and back away from the fountain like it was some sort of monster? Even now, you're shaking and you're only sitting on the far edge."

Toph crossed her arms and scowled. "I'm not _scared. _I'm just…very careful around it. You know, because I can't 'see' very well in water and this fountain is deep. Very…very deep." One didn't need Toph's special sensing abilities to know she was lying. But even when she turned her back to Terran, he simply smiled and wrapped one arm around her waist, drawing her closer to him. Ever the stubborn one, Toph wriggled and squirmed as she tried to free herself. But Terran held her tightly.

"Let go of me Book Worm!"

"No, not until you admit that you have a fear of water. It's perfectly ok to be afraid of things, and the first step to overcoming that fear is admitting that you even have it."

Toph let out an exaggerated sigh and turned her head toward him, all the while keeping her eyes hidden behind her bangs. "Fine! I guess I…well…sort of…haveafearofwater."

"I'm sorry, what was that? Little clearer this time."

Toph elbowed him in his chest to make him back up. "I have a…fear of water."

Despite the bruise that would most likely form, Terran just hugged her to him again. "See, was that so hard? Now I can help you."

She leaned her back against him, crossing her arms and blowing a strand of hair away from her face. "Good luck with that. Sokka and Aang have been trying to help me for years. I think I'm actually more afraid now than I was before they started."

"Why are you so scared? Water gives life."

"Every element has its bad side, and water can take life just as easily as it gives it. I almost drowned in the Serpant's Pass and I've been scared ever since. I even fell in this same fountain about two years ago, but since it was in the middle of the night, there was nobody around to pull me out. I thank the spirits every day that someone heard my yells and came to help. It's a miracle that I can even still come near this thing." Toph turned her head away from Terran to hide the blush creeping across her cheeks. "I must sound ridiculous. A powerful earthbender like me…afraid of something as simple as water."

"But water doesn't have to be a scary thing. Here, let me show you…"

My heart sped up when I saw Toph panic and try to pull away from him. "What?! I'm not getting in there! Are you crazy?!"

Part of me wanted to run over there and smack Terran across his face and ask him the same question. It took every ounce of control that I had to stay where I was and remind myself that Terran wouldn't hurt her…at least not intentionally. Still, it was hard to see Toph in that kind of distress.

"Toph, I'm not going to put you in the water. Why would I do that?"

Toph finally stopped struggling, though she still looked at the water in the fountain like it was going to reach out and pull her under. "…because everyone else did. I know they meant well, but it didn't help at all."

"Well, I'm not going to do that. I think the best approach is a gradual one."

Terran then took her hand in his and dipped it in the sparkling water in the fountain. "See? The water won't reach up and grab you." Their hands slowly swirled the water around.

Even from where I was sitting, I could see Toph very noticeably shaking, however hard she tried to suppress it. She tilted her head up. "No, I can't see, and it _could _grab me if Katara or Aang were- Ahhh!"

Toph jerked her hand back, but Terran caught it and put both their hands back in the water. "Relax, that was just a koi fish that brushed against your hand."

Toph's face changed back to its usual slight frown. "Well, how was I supposed to know? I can't 'see' anything in that water, remember? Besides…it felt slimy. This may be hard to believe, but I don't do slimy. Unless its earthworms."

Terran smiled and gazed at the small white and red fish picking at food on the water's surface. "It may seem gross to us, but fish have that coating of slime to survive."

"Can I have my hand back now?"

"Yeah, if that's what you want." As soon as he let go, Toph flung her hand out of the water, sending a good amount toward an unsuspecting Terran, and soaked his clothing. A small koi fish was left flopping around on the top of his head, and Terran grabbed it and shoved it down the back of Toph's shirt. I had front row seats to watch Toph get up and jump around as she tried to get the slimy fish out of her shirt. Toph finally got the fish out and wildly flung the poor creature back into the water. She grabbed Terran, who was laughing his head off the entire time, and flung him in the water as well.

_She's right, you know._

Right about what?

_That you didn't help her much by simply dunking her in the river by the palace._

Well how was I supposed to know? She didn't say anything to make me stop. Besides, Toph always says to face things head on, and when it comes to fears, I completely agree.

_Terran seemed to know right away that a gradual approach would be better. You're her best friend. Shouldn't you have known that as well? Didn't you see how she let him put her hand in the water even though she was scared? And in the very fountain that she almost drowned in. I haven't seen her trust anyone that much since…well, since you. And she's only known him for little less than a week._

So he gained her trust quicker than I would have guessed. So what?

_So she also seemed to be a lot happier playing around with Terran instead of you. Every time she throws a rock at you, you take cover and whine like a small child for her to stop. Face it, Terran is more her speed._

No he isn't. Who's the only person allowed to come even remotely close to her feet? Who does she feel most comfortable talking about her problems with? Who is, by far, her main partner in crime when she pulls pranks on people? Who does she come to to raid the kitchen with her for cream pastries in the middle of the night after she has a horrible nightmare about the night her parents kicked her out? Who carries her back to her room once she has gone back to sleep? That's right, me. I'm the one who helps beat up the guys who poke fun at her and I'm always there when she needs someone. So shut up, because Terran has nothing on me.

_And how long do you think your "special place" will last? It's not like you and Terran are that different. Both of you are goofy egghead geniuses to name one example. _

A lot you know. There are plenty of differences.

_Oh, you mean like he's a super cool lava bending _earthbender_ and you're not? He's just like you, only better._

Shut up!

_Ok, but don't say I didn't warn you._

I don't need warning about anything! Toph and I are…friends…and we always will be.

_You hesitated._

No I didn't.

_Yes, you did. In fact I'm a little suspicious of everything you do for her._

What for? Those are things that any good friend would do.

_It's also what a good boyfriend would do. _

* * *

Wow. Serious drama. For those who haven't figured it out, Sokka is inwardly arguing with himself. Please review. You have no excuse now. The button is in plain view and has the words 'Review this Story/Chapter' in big green letters. Push the button. It only takes a few minutes at the most.


	12. Chapter 12

**Merry/Happy (insert preferred holiday here)! After all the drama of finals and five days of writing, chapter 12 is finally here. And just in time for the holidays. Consider this my gift to all of you. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The last Airbender or any of its characters. Maybe Santa will give it to me for Christmas.**

* * *

**Sokka's POV**

Boyfriend? There's no way. How…Had I really allowed myself to become that close to her? I'm with Suki. I can't just leave her. It wouldn't be right. But as I watched Terran climb out of the fountain and jokingly start using Toph's hair to dry himself off, something deep down inside me started to ache, and I realized that it was also wrong to keep something like this from Toph, especially since we never keep secrets from each other. The things I get myself into…

"Break time is over, Snoozles. We're leaving." Toph had finally managed to push Terran away and approached me while wringing the water from her hair.

"Toph where are we going?"

An uneasy feeling spread through the pit of my stomach when I saw a wide smirk slowly appear. "To the Jasmine Dragon."

Suki sighed as she idly twirled one of her folded up fans. "Toph, give it up. He'll just make a mockery out of the whole thing."

But Toph nonetheless dragged me by my arm down one of the streets. "Oh, I don't think mister comedian will be telling any jokes when we get there."

We stopped in front of the wide, double doors to Iroh's tea shop. Inside I could hear his jolly laughter. I don't get it. Why would Toph take me here? I could just joke around about the dress like I did before.

Terran looked at the front of the tea shop and raised an eyebrow. "Uh, why are we going into a tea shop?"

Toph grinned over her shoulder. "There are a few people inside that I want you to meet, and one person I'm sure that Sokka would just love to see."

**Zuko's POV**

Uncle and I were sitting at one of the tables in the tea shop and playing a game of Pai Sho. Mai was sitting next to me and seemed to be in disagreement with a particular move I made on the board.

"Zuko, you just set yourself up for defeat."

"For the last time, I know what I'm doing. So Uncle, it's agreed then?"

"Yes, nephew. I would be honored to help someone in need."

I was about to make my next move when the front doors slid open to reveal a very smug looking Toph. She marched her way in, dragging behind her some girl in a pink dress. Wait. That's no girl. Is that…Sokka? What the fuck?!

Mai's expression went blank as she tried to make sense out of the sight before her. "Uuhh…nice outfit?"

Uncle gave a lop-sided smile and took another sip of his tea. "Hello kids. Why don't you all come in and have a seat. Perhaps Sokka would like to explain his… err… unusual choice of clothing…and why his clothes are wet."

I struggled to hold back my snickering as the new arrivals each took their seats around the table. "What on earth are you wearing? Wait. Is this the dress Terran mentioned at the tavern? I had no idea it would be so…pink."

Sokka blushed as I doubled over in my chair from laughing so hard.

"Shut up, Zuko! Toph made me wear this after I lost a bet…and then pushed me in a fountain."

But I just continued laughing. "You look so ridiculous!"

Even Uncle chuckled a bit. "Well it certainly looks good with the color of your eyes." He looked over at Terran. "And who is your new friend? Did he also end up a fountain?"

A tiny smile wormed its way onto Toph's face as her cheeks became tinted with a light pink. "Yeah, he did. Iroh, this is Terran. We're, um, sort of… together."

Terran smiled warmly at the old general. "It's a pleasure to meet you, sir."

"And it is very nice to meet you. It makes me so happy to see that Toph has found someone she can enjoy her life with. Young man, I can assure you that with Toph, you will never have a dull moment."

Terran looked at Sokka and grinned. "Clearly."

"At least now she can stop complaining about the rest of us." Suki said as she poured herself a cup of tea.

Toph reclined in her chair and grabbed one of the small pastries that were stacked up on a plate. "Hey, you guys were driving me crazy with all that mushy, romantic sappiness. Every time I turned a corner it was 'I love you.' 'No, I love you more.' 'No, I love _you _more.' Blah, blah, blah all day. I was surrounded!"

I chuckled as I remembered all the times in the palace when Toph stumbled upon Mai and I trying to enjoy a quiet romantic moment. She always made it look like it was the most annoying thing in the world, but deep down, I think she simply felt left out. "Well now you can finally stop telling everyone to get a room."

"Is something troubling you, Sokka?" I turned to see Uncle looking at Sokka with concern.

"I know I was supposed to meet someone here, and now I can't remember who or when thanks to little miss kidnapper."

Then, as if the spirits were playing some cruel joke on him, a very familiar voice called from the back of the shop.

"Son? Is that you?"

I had forgotten that Hakoda was back in the kitchen making some sort of special tea for my uncle to consider selling. That guy is so quiet. Toph, who was lazily rocking her chair back and forth on its two back legs, didn't seem the least bit concerned, and in fact, looked like she had planned the whole thing. Sokka stared wide eyed at the kitchen door, and began struggling to get out of his seat, which for some reason, he couldn't do. I looked under the table and saw that his feet were anchored to the floor.

He narrowed his eyes at Toph and spoke in a dangerously low voice. "I hate you soooo much right now."

The only reply that he got was a widened smirk and Toph calling to the back of the shop. "He's in here, Hakoda."

I chuckled as he struggled like a scared cat-rabbit caught in a net. Hakoda emerged from the kitchen in the back holding a steaming kettle of tea. Not noticing Sokka yet, he rushed over to the table to set down the hot kettle.

"Hi, kids. Try this. It's a special Water Tribe blend. Though I did have to improvise with a few Earth Kingdom ingredients." He took one of the cups on the table and filled it. Everyone, including Iroh, was trying so hard not to give it away before Hakoda actually looked at Sokka. "Here, Sokka. I know you wa-"

His hand froze mid-way with the cup of tea. For a few excruciating minutes his eyes, filled with shock and confusion, scanned over Sokka's pink ensemble.

"Uhhhh…son? What are you wearing?"

Sokka's brain finally jump started from its initial scare and he scrambled to find something appropriate to say. "I…uh…well…it's not what it looks like!"

Hakoda raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. "Well what is it? Because right you look like a pink nightmare."

I don't know why I thought Toph would stay quiet. This moment was practically screaming for her to say something that would most likely make things more awkward.

"Sokka doesn't think so. A while back, he said, and I quote, 'I look really hot in this dress.'"

Sokka looked about ready to wring Toph's neck. Fortunately, the Water Tribe chief was a very understanding person, and remained calm.

"Sokka, I'm not upset or anything. I just want to know why my _son_ is wearing a pink dress and was reportedly proud about it."

A sharp pain shot up my leg after Sokka discreetly kicked me to get me to stop snickering.

"It isn't _my_ fault! There I was, visiting with Master Piando, just minding my own business, when Toph, Suki, and Katara tried to kidnap me. Then, after I escaped from them, this…this…**back-stabber**," He pointed sharply at Terran who simply chuckled and sipped his tea. "shackles me with clay and rats me out. Then, my supposedly loving girlfriend helps to cart me off like some sort of prisoner to the front of a dress shop where I was _forced_ into this against my will. And the reason I said I look hot in this was to turn Toph's game against her. So as you can see, I'm the victim of a conspiracy."

Suki grabbed a cream filled pastry and rolled her eyes. "More like the victim of a lost bet."

Hakoda took a seat across from me. "A bet, eh? I remember when Bato and I used to make all kinds of ridiculous bets, and I certainly lost my fair share."

Sokka sunk into his chair and tried to change the subject. "_Moving on_, Dad, didn't you write me a letter stating that you would come here with Haru? Where is he?"

I noticed Terran sit straight up in his chair at the mention of Haru. "Did you say Haru is here?"

Hakoda looked curiously at Terran. "Yes, I made a few stops on the way here to pick up Haru, Tyro (**A/N: Haru's father**), Teo, and his father. Iroh was kind enough to let us stay in the rooms above his tea shop." He took a good look at Terran, studying him carefully. "I don't think I've met you before. How do you know Haru?"

Terran smiled. "I'm Terran, and Haru is my cousin. Is he still here?"

Toph almost rocked too far back in her chair. "You and Haru are related?!"

Terran shyly rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, we've been best friends since childhood. So, is he here?"

Toph smirked and put her hands on the earthen tiled floor. "He's here. In fact, he's upstairs sleeping in a bed that's pushed against the wall. Let's give him a wake-up call, shall we?"

We heard a loud _thump_, then silence, then someone yelling 'Tooooppphhh!' in a whiny tone. This only made Toph giggle feverishly on the ground. The next thing we knew, a drowsy Haru slowly descended down the stairs and was staring at the still giggling little troublemaker.

"Toph, what is so wrong with letting me- Terran? I didn't know you came to Ba Sing Se."

Terran looked up from where he sat and smirked. "I see you've grown a mustache. Though I can't say it makes you look any better."

Haru stretched and made his way over to the table. "Oh, so now the mop head wants to tell me what looks good."

Mai shifted her gaze between the two guys who seemed to not be getting along too well. "Do you two hate each other or something?"

Both of them looked strangely at her before breaking out into laughter. "No, of course not. Ever since we were little kids, Terran and I just liked to do that."

Now that I look at them, I can't believe I didn't notice the resemblance between them. Terran sort of looked like Haru except he didn't have the long hair and that cheesy mustache. Seriously, Haru needs to get rid of that thing.

"Uhh…Sokka?" Sokka looked up to see Haru staring awkwardly at him. "What's with the dress?"

Toph snickered and reached for another pastry. "He lost a bet and now has to suffer for it. Like the outfit? Katara, Suki and I handpicked it."

"Ummm…ok. So, Terran, where are you and your folks staying? It's been a long time since I last saw you guys. I'd love to stop by for a visit, but first I promised my dad that I'd go shopping for some food for our journey home." He smiled at Toph and took her hand in his. Good grief, here we go again… "Toph would you like to come with me? We could stop for ice cream on the way."

Toph jerked her hand back and sat in Terran's lap. According to Katara, ever since they first met, Haru had been trying non-stop to get Toph to like him. And each attempt he made, she refused, sometimes rather harshly to get him to stop, but it never works. He really needs to face reality.

"If I told you no the first thousand times, what makes you think I'll say yes this time? Besides, I'm with Terran , so please, stop asking."

Haru just stood there with his jaw hanging open. "What? You mean like, _with_ him? But…but…I…"

As much as I hoped Haru would finally get the message, it was still a little heartbreaking to see his reaction. I mean, the guy looked like he was fighting back tears. Terran carefully moved Toph off his lap and looked nervously at his cousin.

"Um, no hard feelings, right?"

"No, its alright, I…I'll be fine." But his sagging shoulders, watery eyes and overall pitiful look on his face told me it might take longer than a few seconds for him get over Toph's rejection. "I mean if that's what you want Toph…then I can respect that."

Surprisingly, Toph actually looked a bit sympathethic. "Sorry, but you're just not my type. I didn't mean to hurt you."

Sokka, who was stuffing his face with sweet cream puffs, walked over to him and put his arm around his shoulder. "Dude, its fine. There are plenty of other fish in the sea…metaphorically speaking. And if you want my advice, seriously, get rid of the mustache. It's not doing you any justice."

Haru ran his fingers over the mustache, sighed and turned toward the rest of us. "Who _else_ thinks I should get rid of it?"

Everyone raised their hand, including Uncle and Toph. "I'm blind, and even I think you should get rid of that awful thing. Who has a razor?"

Haru protectively covered his upper lip and backed away. "No thanks, I'll do it myself. So, uh, nice seeing you all, congratulations Terran, Toph, and I'll be going now."

"Wait, don't you want to know where my house is? Lower ring, fifth district, house 23."

"Yeah, got it. I'll see you guys later on today when you leave."

Haru walked quickly out the door and shut it behind him. Hakoda looked at the door with concern. "He's going to be ok, right?"

Toph simply went back to her chair and began lazily rocking back on it again. "Haru is a big boy. Give it a few days, he'll be fine."

I looked at the Pai Sho board and jumped up out of my chair after I moved one of my peices. "YES! I WIN! Oh yeah! I finally beat you, Uncle!"

But Mai's dull voice spoiled my victory. "Chill out, Zuko. He let you win."

* * *

**Katara's POV**

Around sunset, there was lots of activity around the royal zeppelin, as crew members scurried around loading everything and checking the ship's systems. Now that they were no longer needed for war, Fire Nation engineers took great interest in redesigning the airships to suit travel rather than cause destruction. I had to admit, our little group had a lot of fun helping Zuko design his personal zeppelin and I even managed to convince him to let me be in charge of decorating the interior.

"Katara!" I turned around to see Dad walking towards me. "Surely you wouldn't leave without a goodbye hug. Or have you grown too big to hug your old man?"

I smiled and enveloped him in a hug. "I'll never get too big."

"Bye sweetie! Take care of yourself, and be a gentleman to Toph. I didn't raise a thug."

"Moooooom! I'm not a little baby anymore! People are staring!"

"You're not _a_ baby, but you're still _my_ baby."

Dad and I both turned around to see the comical sight of Terran trying to escape from his mother's bone crushing hug. Lucky for him, Zuko came up to me to report that everything was loaded and that we were ready for lift off. Just as I was about to call Terran and board the air ship, I felt someone tapping my shoulder and saw Dad staring at the loading ramp.

"Who is that?" He asked me, more than mildly interested.

Zuko and I looked in the direction Dad was staring in, and saw a very pretty woman standing at the top of the loading ramp on the ship. We both smiled when we recognized her.

"That's my mother, Lady Ursa."

I looked up at Dad and my expression turned to one of slight disturbance. I poked Zuko to get his attention, and he too looked a bit disturbed at my father, who seemed to be in a trance. A love-sick trance.

"You kids mind introducing me to her?"

Zuko and I looked at each other before Zuko hastily grabbed my hand and led me to the airship. "Uh, sorry Hakoda, maybe some other time. Right now, the crew is ready to leave. See you later!"

Zuko dragged me off toward the ship, leaving Dad standing there with a small smile on his face. As much as I want to see Dad be happy with someone, I _did not_ want that someone to be Zuko's mother. That would make us, like, siblings or something. And that would be weird. As I waited on the ship and watched everyone on the ground from the railing, I saw Dad call over one of his assistants and tell him to write something down on a blank scroll.

But before we left, Zuko informed Terran's mother that when she got back to her house, several Earth Kingdom soldiers placed under the temporary command of his uncle would be waiting there to take her family back to their hometown and clear out the Fire Nation soldiers.

As the ship lifted off from the launch site, we waved to everyone on the ground till they were too small to see. We all turned around when we heard a familiar voice greeting us.

"Hello kids! Did you enjoy the festival?"

We were greeted with the warm and loving smile that could only belong to Ursa. Shortly after the war ended, Zuko and Aang went in search of Zuko's long lost mother. They found her hiding out in a tiny secluded Earth Kingdom town. Once back at the palace, she was both relieved and saddened to see how much things had changed since she left, including seeing her son with half his face scarred and finding out that Azula was in a psych ward.

Her eyes settled on Sokka, who was still wearing the pink dress, and her expression slowly changed to one of confusion. Sokka sighed. "Don't ask. It's a long story."

Zuko tried to change the subject. "The festival was wonderful. I even managed to find a new adviser." He gestured in Terran's direction. "This is Terran. I'm bringing him on to take care of the economic problems."

"Well hello Terran. Come on, let's find you a room."

Shortly after they left, Toph stretched and walked to the door that Terran and Ursa went through. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm starved. Hopefully no one touched the food in my room."

Sokka turned to follow her. "Toph, do you still have that giant bag of fire flakes?"

"Yeah, why?" Toph narrowed her eyes at him and smirked. "Ohhh, I get it."

"I officially challege you for the title of Ruler of the Fire Flakes."

"Same rules?"

"Same rules. First one to stop for water looses."

"You're on rookie!"

Toph and Sokka raced through the door and down the halls to Toph's room.

Mai simply turned back to the railing and watched a flock of beaver-geese. "Dorks."

* * *

**Toph's POV**

With Sokka following close behind, we weaved through the narrow halls to my room. But a delicious smell made me change course and slide to a stop in front of the kitchen door where the delectable scent of freshly made funnel cake wafted out into the hall.

"What are we doing here? Let's go, you have a title to lose."

"That can wait. There's funnel cake in the kitchen and no one is in there watching. You know what that means."

"What's it topped with?"

"From what I can smell, there are two varieties: caramel apple and blueberry."

"Ok, but only for a short while."

The door was locked, but that was no problem. Concentrating on the heavy latch on the other side of the door, I metalbent it open and was almost run over by an especially eager Sokka.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!"

"Sorry. But there are mini funnel cakes topped with blue berries and apples! And it's all ours!"

"What's going on in here?" Terran walked into the kitchen. "Ooooo! Is that funnel cake?! I want some!"

I heard Sokka greedily shovel a few of the small cakes onto a plate. "Well too bad, 'cause you can't have any. You haven't been part of our group long enough to get perks like this."

"Sokka, just give him some."

"……ok, but only because you granted him the privilege."

Sokka handed Terran a plate off the counter. "So, where is your room?"

"Down the hall. Whoever I'm sharing the room with had a pair Puff the Magic Dragon underwear lying on the bed."

"WHAT?! They can't put someone in my room without my permission! I…I…you can laugh now."

Terran and I happily took up the offer. "Really Snoozles?! _You_ wear Puff the Magic Dragon underwear?!"

"Shut up! I must have forgotten to put them away when we first flew to Ba Sing Se. And it's not like _I _bought them. Suki got them for me, ok? She thought they looked cute."

I leaned back against the wall. "Well, Book Worm, sounds like you're bunking with Sokka for the next 24 hours. I would just like say, that you have my deepest sympathies."

"Hey! I'm not that bad. And there won't be any problems as long as Terran doesn't touch my stuff. In fact, we need to tell you the rules of the palace."

"Ummm, ok."

Sokka set his plate down and cleared his throat. "First rule, you can't walk around the house with no shirt. The same goes for pants."

"Yeah, trust me, Terran. You don't want to break that rule. It won't sit well with those stuffy politicians."

I could practically feel him staring at me. "I don't want to know, do I?"

"No. Another rule is that you have to sleep in your own room. But I noticed that no one really follows that one. It's mostly just there because the Fire Nation follows some nonsense code about 'decency'."

"Any more?"

"Yeah. No feet or elbows on the dinner table, no running in the house except for emergencies, no yelling, and lastly, all fights need to happen outside. Sparky will freak if he sees that his new floors and carpets were messed up in any way. Just remember those rules and everyone will be happy campers."

"Toph, that lady who let me stay in Sokka's room, is she your aunt or something? When I told her we were together, she started asking me all kinds of questions and gushing about how much you've grown up."

"No, that's Sparky's mother, Ursa. But she has sort of adopted me as her own when she found out that my parents didn't want me. She's pretty cool once you get to know her." I suddenly sat up from my place on the floor when I felt two sets of vibrations heading our way, one of them noticeably much heavier than the other.

"Quick! Let's get outta here! The head chef is coming!" I hissed as I quickly wiped the crumbs from my clothing.

Sokka and Terran scrambled to find a safe place to put the dirty dishes. "Toph, where do we hide the evidence?!"

"Calm down, Sokka. Just give them to me and let's go."

Sokka and Terran shoved their plates into my hands and dashed out of the kitchen. I crushed the ceramic plates and condensed them into a compact ball and took it with me as I followed the two boys.

"WHAT HAPPENED TO MY CAKES?!" The cook's enraged voice echoed through the halls and only encouraged us to run faster and hide somewhere.

"Sokka, Terran, into the loading bay!" We ducked into a hatch door and climbed the ladder down to Cabi and Appa's section of the loading bay.

"We can stay down here until Tubby cools down."

It seemed that Appa wasn't there at the moment and poor, lonely Cabi was more than happy to see us. In less than a minute, I was pushed to the floor and squeezed in a giant badgermole hug.

"Nice to see you too. Aaack! Too tight! Stop! Go bother Sokka!"

"Cabi…" Sokka backed away as the badgermole released me and approached him. "Uncle Sokka is very fragile and- ahhh!"

Cabi tackled Sokka to the ground and held him like a stuffed toy in her paws. "Cabi! Let go! Ewwwww! Toph, she's licking me! Make her stop!"

Ignoring him, I sat down and leaned back against the ladder and tried to drown out Sokka's yelling by bending a few small pebbles on the ground.

"You're not going to help him?" Terran came and sat next to me.

"And make Cabi sad? That would be mean." I felt Terran shift uncomfortably in his spot on the floor and his heartbeat showed he was nervous about something. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

"I can't hide anything from you, can I? Well…I guess I'm…a bit…"

"Nervous? I know that. Nervous about what?"

"I'm going to be working with older politicians and businessmen who have years of experience. How am I going to get them to take someone like me seriously? I mean, from what Zuko has told me, I'll be the first person to ever serve on the Fire Lord's board of advisors that isn't from the Fire Nation. What if I can't do my job because they refuse to listen to me?"

"First of all, no, they probably won't take you seriously. Some probably won't even like you because of your heritage. But I went through the same thing as did everyone else. All they saw at first was our age and where we came from. Some of them still do, but after a while, the ones who weren't as set in their ways saw what we could really do. Remember, these people want results. If you are truly as good as you say you are, some will see it and even defend your ideas. But if anyone is making it their mission to give you an especially hard time, don't be afraid to tell me. I know how to straighten them out."

Terran chuckled. "I'll be sure to remember that."

"Tooooph! Get this slobbering fur ball off me _right now_!"

I sighed and went over to help Sokka escape Cabi's grip. But before I could do anything, Appa flew in through the open bay door, and Cabi immediately forgot about Sokka and started bothering Appa for attention, which he seemed perfectly happy to give.

"Let's go guys. I don't hear or feel anyone in the halls, so now is our chance to sneak to my room and get this contest over with."

"What contest?" Terran asked as he followed me up the ladder.

"You'll see."

* * *

**Sokka's POV**

After dinner, Toph and I were standing on the deck, feeling the cool night air blow on our faces. At the moment, I was feeling very proud of myself for finally beating Toph at a fire flakes eating contest. She still thinks I cheated somehow.

"What's so funny?"

Toph continued chuckling to herself a few seconds longer before answering me. "You think they'll ever prove that we ate those funnel cakes?"

"If you and I don't talk about it for a while, then no. But next time, remember to lock the door back."

I smirked as I remembered the cook questioning everyone at the table about why there were a few less funnel cakes available to be served. No one even thought of suspecting Terran, and even though everyone suspected us, Toph and I maintained that we were in Toph's room the whole time. It's not like they could prove otherwise.

"Hey Snoozles?"

"Yeah?"

"What do you think was on that scroll that Ursa was reading?"

"Meh, who knows? But she said it was given to her by a young man from the water tribe, so it must be something important. Though I do wonder why she was smiling so much."

I looked over at Toph as I prepared myself to ask her a potentially sensitive question. "Um, Toph, could I speak with you about something important?"

Toph rested her head on her arms that were crossed over the railing on the upper deck. Her blind eyes gazed blankly ahead into the infinite night sky. "Sure, what is it?"

"Would…that is, hypothetically of course…would you ever not want to hang out with me because…for whatever reason I wasn't interesting anymore?"

Toph stood straight up and looked at me with one eyebrow raised. "What? Why would I do that? That would be a bit shallow of me, don't you think?"

"I was just asking because…well, I was worried."

"…about Terran. Right?"

I smiled a little at her uncanny ability to read peoples' minds. "Yeah."

Suddenly, Toph slugged me right in my gut. "Toph, what was that for?!" I wheezed, clutching my abdomen.

"I'm trying to knock some sense into you. Just when I think you can't get any dumber, you find a way to prove me wrong. Whatever happened to our best friends forever promise? Did that mean anything to you? It certainly meant something to me."

"I…just…"

"Sokka, you will _never_ be boring to me. I don't think I could forget about you even if I tried. You and Terran are both important to me. Is that clear?"

"Yes."

She yanked me down by my shirt to her level and threw her arms around my neck. "We'll always be best friends and don't you dare let anyone tell you otherwise."

"Yeah…best friends." Her response was a relief, but it still scared me how a small part of me wished she thought of us as more than friends.

* * *

**The next chapter should be up soon now that I have a lot more time to write. Reviews would be a great holiday present.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Sorry about the lateness with this chapter. It was supposed to be out sooner, but I had trouble with making this interesting to read. Hope I did ok.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender. (insert witty/sarcastic remark here)**

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* * *

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**Toph's POV**

"So let me get this straight. You're telling me that your dad might have a thing for Zuko's mom."

"Yeah." Katara shifted in her lounge chair.

"And you think that the scroll Ursa was reading last night was really a love note from your dad?"

"I don't think, I know. I saw Dad get one of his assistants to write something down for him and Ursa said the scroll was given to her by someone from the Water Tribe. It has to be from him."

I couldn't hold it in any longer. I rolled over in my lounge chair, laughing my heart out. When Katara threw an apple at me, I was sure I had thoroughly pissed her off, but I couldn't help it. It was all too funny to me.

"What's your problem, Toph?! You said you wouldn't laugh!"

"Yes, well, that was before you told me that your dad was sending love notes to Ursa. Though I must say, from the way she was giggling like a school girl, it sounds like your old man still has a way with the ladies."

Katara groaned next to me. "Toph, this is serious."

"Ok, ok. But I still don't see what the problem is. You know Ursa, she's a nice person."

"I know, it's just…" Katara sighed and I heard the chair squeak as she flopped back onto it.

"Just what?"

"I don't know…I do like her very much. She's been like a mother to all of us since we found her. Maybe I'm just blowing all this out of proportion."

"Uh huh. And how does that make you feel?"

"Well, it…what? What kind of question is that? I already told you how I feel. Are you even listening?"

"I'm listening. It's just that you came to me about a personal issue like I'm some sort of therapist. That's Sokka's job. He's the one who still has that stupid fake beard. And just so you know, I charge by the minute."

"I knew I should have went to Suki."

"Great, you do that. I'll just stay on the deck here and bask in the sun with no interruptions."

"Toph! There you are."

So much for no interruptions. In a split second I was drowning in Ursa's long sleeves as her arms wrapped me in a hug.

"How's my little Tophkins doing?"

I could feel my cheeks burning as Katara started snickering at me. "Shut it, Sugar Queen, unless you want a fat lip. Owwww!"

Sharp pain shot through my ear when Ursa tugged it. "Young lady, what did I say about picking fights? You apologize right now."

"Alright, I'm sorry!"

She let go of my ear, but her arms hadn't moved. "Now what is this I hear about you having a suitor?"

I heard Katara get up and leave the upper deck, leaving me and Ursa by ourselves. "What about him?"

"Come on, you can tell me. How do you like him so far?"

"He's cool. He's a little goofy, but in a good way. It's ironic though. I'm blind and I like someone who lives to read."

Ursa chuckled and sat in my chair. "Well, life is full of surprises. And just so you know, if he proposes, you have my blessing."

"Uurrrsaaaa, I just met him. Marriage is the last thing on my mind right now." I groaned, burying my face in one of her sleeves.

"I know, I just hope that you do choose to be with him. He seems like such a nice young man." She said, hugging me tighter. "I know I've only known you for a few years, but it feels like I'm watching my own child grow up."

I suddenly felt very light weight, like I was falling.

"Oh, good news, Toph. It looks like we're back at the mainland. Though I wish the captain would make slower descents."

* * *

**Terran's POV**

Once the airship landed, I stepped off, and was almost run over by a very desperate Cabi, who promptly ran out of the loading bay and rolled around in the dirt. Appa was much more graceful about it.

" Uhh, guys? Are we supposed to walk to the palace, because I don't see anything."

Suki walked over to a group of people standing around two carriages elaborately painted in red and gold. "Of course not. We'll be riding in these."

I was riding in the second carriage with Toph, Aang, and Katara. Aang was looking out the small window, his eyes filled with excitement. "You're going to love being at the palace, Terran. It looks so beautiful!"

A shiver involuntarily went down my back as some not so great memories surfaced. "I don't know, it might take some getting used to. The soldiers who occupied my town showed us pictures of the palace's interior as a form of intimidation. I don't think I'll ever be able to forget the images of the throne room."

Aang simply shook his head. "But it's not like that anymore, because Zuko did some intense renovations. The throne room has lots of windows and murals and the throne isn't surrounded with flames so it isn't so dark and scary. And the overall color scheme has a lot less black in it. Plus, he's added tons of flowers, shrubs, and fountains and lots of wildlife has moved in as a result. Trust me, the palace is a lot more visitor-friendly than it used to be."

I smiled at the idea of not walking around feeling scared of the atmosphere for the first couple weeks or so. Maybe the transition won't be so bad after all.

After about an hour, I got my first look at my new home. The sight was truly breath-taking. A large central stone building flanked by two slightly smaller buildings on either side towered over a beautiful small garden in the front that was obviously assembled and tended to with meticulous care. A large red and gold banner with the Fire Nation insignia on it hung from the top of the central building, and dozens of people were waiting outside for our arrival.

"Wow. This place is amazing!"

Toph jumped up from her seat. "Yep, home sweet home. It's not much but it's all we have."

Someone slid the door open and we all filed out of the carriage. Zuko was immediately surrounded by what I assumed to be several officials and politicians. A few of them looked my way after words were exchanged, and they didn't look too happy to see me. Then, they all suddenly looked worried and turned back to follow Zuko and listen to what he was saying. I was only confused for a moment though, as I realized the reason for their strange behavior was Toph and Mai standing behind me with their arms folded and staring down the grumpy old men. Well, Mai was. Toph was staring slightly to right of them.

"Excuse me while I go keep a few people in line." Mai stalked after the unsuspecting men, leaving me with Toph and a very dusty badgermole.

Come on, Book Worm, help me put Cabi in the stables. Then I can give you a grand tour of the palace."

We walked a few steps before Toph abruptly stopped and turned to face me. "Oh, and before I forget, I should tell you that even after all the work we've done, there are still some groups of people who don't like the fact that the war has ended and who don't exactly enjoy the fact that me and my friends are alive. So all I'm saying is, when people find out that you are associated with us, you will become a target."

I stood there completely speechless as my brain practically fried itself trying to figure out if Toph was being serious. "…what?"

Toph just cracked a huge fake smile. "But don't worry. The rebel groups aren't nearly as organized as they used to be, and neither are their attacks. Besides, the number of attacks specifically aimed at us has dropped and they mostly just target random parts of the country now. Now let's go so I can show you around."

She ran off with Cabi following close behind. "Wait! Toph, are you serious?! There were no mentions of psycho people bent on my destruction when I signed up for this! Toph?! Toph!"

* * *

**Toph's POV**

"And here is the throne room. This is where Zuko goes to be lazy after a hard day." Terran and I stepped into the large room, our footsteps echoing off the walls and high ceiling. Terran wandered off to the wall behind the throne.

"Wow, these murals are impressive. Whoever did these really has an eye for detail."

"Thank you. Only the best artists would do. That one tells the story of the first person to learn firebending from the dragons." Zuko said, as he made his way into the room. "The others are depictions of everyday life in the Fire Nation. I consider the murals a constant reminder of who I am responsible to and what the true nature of firebending is."

Meanwhile, I had made my way over to Zuko's throne and climbed up in it. Hm, I've spent years in this palace, and I've never tried out the throne. "Hey Sparky, this is a comfy seat you got here. Now I understand why you sometimes fall asleep on this thing."

"Hey! Get off my throne! You're getting dirt all over it!"

I just smirked and made myself comfortable. "Sheesh, what ever happened to sharing with others?"

Zuko gave a long dramatic sigh. "Get off my throne and go away. I have a lot of important things to do."

Not wanting to get Terran mixed up in anything, I calmly climbed down and made my way out of the room. "Whatever. Come on Terran, the tour isn't finished."

As we wondered through the massive hallways, I could feel Terran tense up every time we passed one of Zuko's advisors.

"Hey Toph, who is that fat old guy with the slight limp? He keeps scowling at me and its starting to get creepy." Terran whispered.

"A limp? That would be Kin Sho, the current head of the financial council. As one of Zuko's advisors, you will most likely be taking his place as head of that council. He's a pain in the ass old man and will most likely be your greatest source of opposition. So…good luck with that."

Terran mumbled something to himself as we turned a corner into another hall. "Don't worry. Zuko already doesn't trust that guy too much. Anyway, this is where all of our bedrooms are, except for Zuko and Mai of course. Since we didn't tell anyone where your room would be, you can just pick one from the vacant rooms on the far end of the hall."

"Sweet."

I followed Terran over the marble floor as he ran down the hall. He stopped in front of the first empty room and just stood there, I guessed, to look around. "Uhh…where are the bed sheets?"

"Huh?"

"The bed sheets. They're missing."

"Then pick another room."

However, much to our surprise, all the other vacant bedrooms were also lacking in bed sheets and blankets.

"No worries, Terran. The maids always change out the linens after a guest leaves. We'll just stop by the laundry room and tell them to bring some up. Then I can show you my favorite area in the palace."

* * *

**Suki's POV**

I laughed as one of the turtleducklings splashed all the others to get the piece of bread I tossed to them.

"Hawky, don't even think about it. I see you up there!"

I looked to my side and saw Sokka trying to climb the tree to reach Hawky tucked away in the leaves and branches of the tree we were sitting under and noticed that the messenger bird was staring a little too hard at the turtleducks.

"Nice Hawky…don't eat the turtleducks…nooo!"

In the time span of a few seconds, Hawky dive-bombed the turtleducks, narrowly missing one of the babies. Fortunately, none of them were injured, but the mother didn't hesitate to fly up and retaliate against him. Not wanting to see either of the two animals get hurt, I broke up the fight and pulled Hawky away.

Sokka walked up to Hawky, and stared at him on my arm. "Bad Hawky! I am very disappointed in you, mister! When we get inside, you will be spending the rest of the day in your cage! Do you realize how much trouble you almost got me into?"

Hawky shrunk back and tried to hide his face from Sokka's angry lecturing. "Stop it, Sokka! He doesn't know what you're saying. All he knows is that you're angry with him. Besides, he's a predatory bird. His instinct is to hunt and kill other animals."

"Cool! Hawky finally got something? What did he get?!" Toph voice rang through the garden as she and Terran appeared from behind some tall hedges.

"Hawky almost killed one of the turtleducks! One of _Zuko's _turtleducks! He'd have my head for that!" Sokka said, waving his arms wildly in the air.

Toph's grin faded and she just stood there with a blank stare. "So…he didn't kill anything?"

"No, Toph, and I'm glad he didn't." I said, stroking Hawky's head as Sokka continued to glare disapprovingly at him.

"Oh well. Maybe next time. Anyway, Terran, this is the firelord's private garden, my favorite place in the palace."

"It's very beautiful and tranquil."

Sokka moved Hawky to his shoulder and tossed another piece of bread into the pond. "It would be even more tranquil if certain hawks would quit stalking the residents."

"Hey, Toph are there any other places you want to show me?"

"Nope, this is the last one. We here at Toph's World Famous Palace Tours understand that you have many choices when looking for touring services, and we would just like to thank you for choosing us. Have a nice day."

Toph then made herself comfortable under the tree, staring off into space.

"So what do you guys do? Are you diplomats or something?"

"Yeah. We pretty much teach the ambassadors and dignitaries how to get their nations to get along. Life for all of us is just one boring meeting after another." Wow. I really need to get more time away.

"But it's not all boring, though. Sometimes, when representatives from the other nations come here, we get to act as referees at the meetings. And then of course there are times when we do public service." Toph said, as she lazily shifted onto her side.

"Public service?"

"See, before we got a handle on the rebel groups, they would viciously attack any towns that supported our views, especially those close to the capital. So much damage was done, that we are still cleaning up their mess. And it certainly doesn't help that they are still taking pot shots in random areas."

"So I'm going to be helping with things like construction?"

"Yep. Nothing like good old manual labor. Besides, it's good for our image."

"Said the blind girl."

"Shut it Snoozels!"

"Cool it you two. Can't we just sit here in peace and quiet?"

A momentary silence fell over the garden before Sokka finally spoke up. "I hate silence. Someone say something."

"Ok. Which is cooler, ninjas or pirates?" Toph asked with a sly smile.

Sokka sat straight up, startling Hawky on his shoulder. "Definitely pirates. They get to pillage. What do you think, Suki?"

"Well I think ninjas are cooler. By the time you see them, you're already dead."

"Yeah, I have to agree with Suki. They shift around too much and I find things that I can't keep track of a lot scarier." Toph said.

But Sokka was going to defend his position to the death. "What? No way. Pirates have huge swords and don't have to answer to anyone. As I recall, ninjas usually have someone that they take orders from. How tough can you possibly sound saying something like 'Yeah, you just wait, scumbag. I can't kill you right now, but you just wait until my master gives us the ok. We'll be on you like white on rice.'"

Toph, equally as stubborn, wasn't backing down either. "I'd rather be a ninja than some stupid pirate who's dying from scurvy. Besides, a ninja could kill a pirate long before anyone even hears them."

"But ninjas have this stupid behavior code they have to obey, like not attacking an unarmed enemy. A pirate would hack somebody with their gigantic sword whether that person has a catapult or a toothpick."

"But Suki is like a ninja and she kicks your ass all the time."

At this, I couldn't help but laugh, not paying any mind to Sokka glaring at me.

"Who cares! Pirates are better and you know it."

"Ninjas."

"Pirates."

"Ninjas!"

"Pirates!"

Sokka must not have been thinking about what he was doing, because he tossed a small rock at Toph and hit her in the head, which I'm sure would cause a bump to form later. Silence spread over us and I could see, the second that rock left his hand, before it even went anywhere near Toph, Sokka's eyes widened in realization that he made a grave mistake.

"Ohmygosh, Toph, I'm so sorry! I didn't…I wasn't thinking!"

Without any warning, Toph jumped on him, scaring Hawky away, and started pounding her fist into his chest. Dust and clumps of grass flew through the air as they rolled across the ground, Toph trying to beat Sokka's face in, and Sokka trying to escape Toph's wrath.

"Do they do this often?" Terran asked, looking at them with concern.

"Yep. Don't worry, it never gets bloody. They'll eventually stop and find something else to do."

"Oh…ok then. Um, is it wrong to find this entertaining?"

"Not at all. Bread?"

* * *

**Sokka's POV**

"Unbelievable. Un-freaking-believable! Do you have any idea how important that garden is to me? Immediately after dinner, you two will be fixing the part of the garden that you ruined, and you won't stop until the job is _completely_ finished no matter how late it gets. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes Zuko." Toph and I both went back to eating our meals quietly, being careful not to look at the fuming firelord.

"Terran, how would you feel about going before the financial council with me tomorrow and help present our solution? It would be a great opportunity to introduce you to the people whom you will be working the closest with."

"…"

Zuko put his chopsticks down and looked at Terran with concern. "Something wrong?"

"Maybe I shouldn't. It's important that they buy into this as soon as possible, and none of the politicians I've seen today even look like they want me around."

"You'll have to face them sooner or later. I suggest sooner."

"My lord, what is the meaning of this?! How could you do this to your own nation, your people?!"

Zuko nearly spilled his wine when all of us were caught off guard by Jang Lee bursting into the dining room. The old man's face was red with fury.

Zuko calmly stood up and turned to face him. "What could possibly be so devastating that you would barge in here completely unannounced?"

"Forgive me Sire, but is it true that some Earth Kingdom boy will be serving on your board of advisors?"

"Yes. You and I both know how hard times have gotten for the general public. I found it necessary to bring in an economics advisor."

"But Sire, why did it have to be someone from the _Earth Kingdom_? And a mere boy at that? Surely you wouldn't trust the country's financial well-being to a child." Toph and Suki glared when he said Earth Kingdom like it was kind of horrible disease.

"Need I remind you that it was a group of children who ended the Hundred Year War? Don't tell me who's capable of doing what."

"I am simply concerned about the good of the nation. How do you know this boy will do what is best for us and not what is best for his own people at our expense?"

"I trust that he will do what is best for both nations. I understand your concern, but please let me worry about that and stick with your own responsibilities. You are dismissed."

The old man shot an ugly look at the two girls glaring at him, then made his way out of the room grumbling. "Hmph. Back in my day…"

"Back in his day, his balls didn't touch the floor."

Toph and I tried to stifle our laughter as Katara looked at us with her arms folded.

"Stop being immature."

"Who was that?" Terran asked, trying not choke on his food because of Toph's joke.

"That was Jang Lee. He's the head of law enforcement." Zuko said as he sat down.

"No offense, but are there any nice people around here beside you guys?"

"Of course. Sung, who is head of livestock and agriculture regulation, is very kind. He was the first person in the palace to accept me as the new firelord. I know all the negative feelings toward you seem discouraging, but trust me, it will get better. So, will you come to the meeting with me?"

"I suppose it wouldn't make sense to not show up..."

Toph prodded his side with her elbow. "They serve fried dough topped with sugar at–"

"Deal."

* * *

**Sokka's POV**

"Hold still Toph! I'm almost finished." Toph's grip on the tree tightened as I pulled another small thorn out of her back.

"Whoever heard of a flower with thorns that are actually meant to come off the stem anyway?"

"I have, which is exactly why I told you to be careful around the prickle daisies."

"Well maybe if that stupid catowl hadn't flown right in front of me, I wouldn't be in this situation. Yeowch! How many more are there?!"

I lifted my lantern up and scanned her back. "Just one more." A sharp tug easily freed the last thorn from it's painful grip in Toph's flesh. "Let's go. All the sod and replacement flowers have been planted."

"Everyone is sitting in the lounge."

When we got inside the palace, sure enough, we heard screaming coming from the lounge area. Toph and I looked at each other and both yelled the same thing. "Scary stories!"

We ran toward the screaming and laughing to see Katara laughing and Suki and Aang breathing heavily.

"Hey everyone. What story was that?" I asked taking a seat between Toph and Suki.

"I was just telling them about all the times I had to wash your dirty socks."

I just narrowed my eyes at her. "Ha ha. Seriously, what was it?"

"Well, Suki, Mai, Zuko, and Terran hadn't heard the story of Nini, so I told that one. I thought it would be funny to bend the water in the cup behind me into a mist and shape into a little girl in front of the fire place and these two," she said as she pointed at Aang and Suki, "nearly wet themselves."

Toph fell over laughing. "You big possum-chickens."

Suki reached around and threw one of the light blankets at her. "Alright, miss never scared. Zuko, why don't you tell a story? And make it a good one."

The light from the fire place danced across the firelord's face as he sat there looking like a deerfox caught in a torch light.

"Oh, come on, Zuko. I know you can think of at least _one _story."

"Uh, well, there is one that I know."

"Then what's the hold up? Scare this little earth monger."

"I'm worried that none of you will be able to sleep."

"Nonsense. The scarier, the better."

(30 minutes later)

"So anytime an object seems to have shifted while your back was turned, or a fire just can't seem to be put out no matter how hard you try, or mysterious footsteps echo down the halls at night, pay attention, as it may not be a firebender playing tricks. Because little Hoji still remembers the injustice he faced. He's still angry and he's everywhere. Your reflection in the mirror, that innocent little kitten, even your own shadow on a sunny day. I'd suggest you watch them all. He still wants revenge, and he'll get it any way he can."

Zuko's gory tale left us huddled together and trembling. Never before have I felt so scared of going into the bathroom. Even Toph seemed a little unnerved as she huddled closer to me and pulled her blanket over her head so only her sightless eyes were showing. Hey. She still chooses to huddle up next to _me_. Glad to see Terran won't be taking over _that._ No, bad Sokka. Focus!

"Awwww, look. The baby is scared."

"Shut up, Suki! I'm just cold."

Katara scoffed at Toph's lame attempt to save herself. "In the middle of summer? Just admit that you are just as scared as the rest of us."

Toph pulled the blanket tighter around her. "Ok, fine. I'm scared. But at least all of you would be able to see the ghost and run away. I would have no possible way of detecting it, so I have more of a reason to be afraid."

Zuko simply smirked at her. "Whatever makes you feel better."

Toph glanced at Terran and suddenly jumped up. "It's my turn to tell a story. I think Terran will be especially scared of this one."

I looked at Terran, silently asking him what on earth she was talking about. His only response was a look just as clueless as mine and a shrug.

"This is the tale of the people snatcher."

I couldn't help but snicker at her dumb sounding story. "People snatcher? And you say _I_ tell bad stories."

"I'm talking, so you need to be listening. Anyway, there was this town that was all happy-go-lucky and rainbows and crap. But one day, all that stopped. Because things started happening at night. Horrible, bloody things. A man was walking home from the local tavern with his buddy after a hard day. Both of them were a tad drunk, but not so drunk that they couldn't see that they were being followed. They kept ducking in between buildings to shake off their stalker, but whoever it was stayed right on their tails. The two men began to get worried that they were facing a real threat. The sound of crunching dirt behind them ceased however, so they figured they were safe. They were wrong."

Mai crossed her arms in annoyance. "Do you realize how not scary your story sounds?"

"Stop interrupting. Where was I? Oh yeah, the two guys were suddenly attacked by something that seemed to have fallen out of the sky. Unbelievable pain consumed them as they fell to the ground and saw their own blood stain the soil. One of them managed to fight off the attacker just long enough to get a good look at the assailant before being shredded by the horrifying entity. It's teeth dripped with blood as it slowly reared up in the moonlight. It was terrifying! It was deadly! It was…a giant man-eating blanket!"

All of us stared at Toph with our mouths hanging open.

"Night after night, the vicious blanket continued its carnage. It hid in dark corners, ambushed people in the woods, and even snapped up little children in their sleep!"

The seemingly insane earthbender then covered herself with her blanket, leaving just her arms out and began harassing Terran.

"Grrr! I want your brain! Your braaaaiiiiiinnnnn!" She tackled Terran and sat on him, pretending to claw at him. "I am the living blanket! Raaaawwwrrrrr!"

We all looked at each other, then burst out into laughing.

"That…is the craziest story I have _ever _heard! How did you come up with that?!" Aang was holding his sides and rolling on the floor.

"Terran is afraid of blankets! He thinks they're alive and out to get him." Toph finally got up but quickly moved when Terran tried to grab her.

"I am _not _afraid of blankets. Well, not anymore. But that was when I was small and stupid."

"It's no big deal. Aang used to be afraid of spider-ants."

"Katara!"

"What? It's true. You fear some of the strangest things."

After a light-hearted round of who fears what, it was getting late, and if any of us wanted to stand a chance at the meetings tomorrow, we needed to turn in for the night and get some sleep.

"Maybe we should all go to bed. Those dignitaries will be unforgiving." Aang said, standing up and stretching.

"Yes, for tomorrow, we work. Though sometimes it feels like we're babysitting a bunch of toddlers, am I right Toph? Toph?"

I looked down at the small figure leaning on me. Steady breathing and soft snoring indicated that Toph had already fallen asleep, and my gentle nudging was doing nothing to wake her up.

Everyone bid each other good night, and left quietly. We all knew what would happen when Toph was woken up for no reason.

Since she wasn't waking up on her own and I wouldn't dare wake her myself, I picked her up and carried her to her room. It was a routine I was starting to enjoy. Thankfully, this only happened late at night and only so often, so no one could ever see us and form all kinds of crazy ideas and rumors in their minds. Toph shifted in my arms and mumbled something in her sleep.

_She looks pretty._

You again?! You can't be good for my mental health.

_Neither can denying your feelings. Face it, you've fallen for Toph. You've probably loved her for a long time and just didn't realize it._

I have not fallen for Toph. I just like her slightly more than I usually do.

_There you go again, denying reality. Perhaps you should keep that up. Maybe one day, you won't be able to take it anymore and you'll just blurt it out to her and be done with it. _

You're the one who is denying reality. In case you haven't noticed, Toph loves Terran. I would be a horrible person for breaking up two people who are happy with each other for my own selfish reasons. And what about Suki? I still care very about her. What would I tell her?

_I never said this was going to be easy. _

No, you said that Terran would eventually take over everything that was important between me and Toph, and that was a total lie. Toph said she would never value either one of us over the other, and I completely trust her. So why should I listen to you?

_Look at her. Go on, look at her and tell me all you see is a good friend._

I see a beautiful young woman who loves to live life to the fullest and who I am very lucky to call my best friend.

But once I got into her room and put Toph in her bed, I felt myself slowly leaning forward. When I realized what I was about to do, I stopped myself and drew back.

_Do it._

No.

_You know you want to._

No. If I do that, I might…I might…

_Love her? So you admit it._

No! Just leave me alone.

_Kiss her good night as a friend. That's not bad is it?_

I…I suppose not.

But as I leaned in again, an image of Suki's face flashed into my mind and it felt like something knotted up in my stomach. There's no way I could do this without feeling some kind of guilt. Why can't I be more like Toph, and just strangle my conscience? I went back to my room before anything else could happen and tried to ignore that annoying voice in my head.

_You almost had it! A small amount of guilt comes along and you're ready to run away?! _

You say one more thing, and we're going for a visit to the therapist.

_...I'll be quiet now._

* * *

I was thinking about making the voice in Sokka's head (lol) into its own character. What do you think?

Also (-looks around and takes deep breath-) NINJAS!

(-runs away-)


	14. Chapter 14

**Hello again. Since I don't have much to say this time, I'll just let get right to the story. Don't forget to review, even if you don't have an account.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of its characters. I am but a humble fan writing fanfiction to pass the time until the movies come out.**

* * *

**Terran's POV**

Something gently shook me away from my dreams. I opened my bleary eyes to see a fuzzy image of Zuko standing next to my bed.

"If we want to make it to the meeting in time, you need to get up."

As my vision became clearer, I looked around and noticed it was sort of early, probably right after dawn. I yawned and propped myself up on my elbows.

"Why so early? Do the meetings really start this early?"

"No. They usually start after the sun is fully up. But you need to get up now so I can help you get ready. You have much to learn."

Wiping the rest of the sleep from my eyes, I dragged myself out of bed and Zuko handed me the bath robe hanging next to it.

"Go wash up and then come back in here for a serious wardrobe change."

"Ok, where's the bathroom?"

"Each room has its own bathroom and yours is over there." Zuko said, pointing to a door on the left side of the room. "The reservoir on the roof was just refilled, so there should be plenty of hot water."

I walked through the door and into a small but elegant bathroom. After a hot, relaxing bath, I threw on the bath robe and went back into the bedroom to find Zuko and one of the servants with a tape measure and a rack of my clothes mixed with some new ones.

"Come stand over here so you can be measured." I stepped up and held my arms out at my sides. "All of the firelord's advisors wear traditional robes to meetings and special events. But seeing as you are the first and so far only one to not be from the Fire Nation, perhaps some small changes can be made to yours." Zuko turned to the servant. "What if we keep the overall design, including the insignia but change the trimming to green and put a large Earth Kingdom insignia on the back."

"No, really Zuko, it's fine. I'll wear whatever has been traditionally worn. I won't feel like I'm abandoning my nation."

"If that's what you want. I spoke with Sung yesterday, and he has agreed to loan you some of his robes until some can be made for you. Unfortunately, Sung is a bit large around the middle."

I tried on one of the official robes and, just like Zuko said, noticed that it sort of swallowed me up.

"This is fine. At least I won't feel stiff or constrained in it." I said with a smile.

Zuko nodded. "Thank you Myo, that will be all." The servant boy bowed respectfully and left the room.

"So what happens at these meetings?"

Zuko sat in one of the overstuffed chairs and motioned for me to do the same. "Listen closely, because it's very important that you understand the procedure. It's very easy to come across as incompetent or disrespectful if you don't."

"Toph said that I might become head of the financial council. Is that true?"

"Well I wish she hadn't mentioned that before I did, but yes. Advisors are the head of their respective councils, and you won't be any different. Historically, the council you will be leading was the only exception and functioned on its own, but I think it's time for that to change."

"So all we'll be doing is telling them the solution we worked out, right?"

"That and what the problem was to begin with. But there is a certain way you do it. When it's time for the meeting to begin, I'll first introduce you to everyone and officially place you as head of the council, then give a summary of the issue I was given. You will then stand and explain the solution. After that, you will lead the council in a discussion of the best way to carry it out. You getting all this?"

Inside, my head was spinning just thinking about being in control of an entire council. But now was not the time to possum-chicken out. "…yeah."

"Good, because now I'm going to tell you all the unspoken rules that, if broken, could put you even more on everyone's bad side than you already are."

* * *

**Zuko's POV**

"Stop pacing. You're making yourself a nervous wreck."

"I can't help it. There's so much pressure!"

I sighed and grabbed Terran's shoulder to make him stop. "You're a talented person. I wouldn't have considered you for this kind of work if I couldn't see that. Just keep your mind on the task at hand and make it clear that you are the head of that council and that you will not be disrespected. Remember, no one listens to a doormat. Now take a deep breath and calm down."

Terran did as I said but still had to put his hands in his sleeves to hide his shaking from the councilmen, who started trickling into the conference room one by one. After a while, I peered inside, and saw that everyone was in their seats.

"Ok, everyone's here. Just walk in, politely acknowledge anyone who greets you, and stand next to the smaller of the two chairs at the head of the table."

Terran slowly made his way into the room and went past the councilmen, though hardly any of them even wanted to look at him and those that did made it perfectly clear that he was unwelcome. Just stay calm Terran.

I was the last one to enter the room and everyone stood when they saw me in the doorway. I calmly made my way to my chair and turned to face council. After giving the ok for everyone to sit, I motioned for Terran to come stand next to me.

"As you all know, the Fire Nation has some major economic issues that need to be addressed. I realized that if I am to make responsible decisions regarding those issues and those that come up in the future, then it is necessary that this council no longer work completely independent of the firelord. Therefore, I have brought in an economic advisor who will report back to me on a regular basis and who, as custom dictates, will now be the head of this council. I would like to introduce to you my new advisor and your new leader Terran of the Earth Kingdom."

Terran took his seat in ice cold silence, save for the quiet grumblings of the former head.

"Is there a problem, Kin Sho?" I asked in what I hoped was my best 'don't you dare complain' tone.

"No problems here Sire."

"Well that's good to know. In the last meeting, this council presented me with an especially difficult issue. It was brought to my attention that even though trade has been at a more than healthy level, the standard of living for the majority of the population has declined. I was fortunate enough to meet Terran, and together, we have come up with a probable cause and a solution, which Terran will now present to you.

I glanced at Terran, who nervously cleared his throat and stood. At first, he seemed unsure of himself. Even his voice sounded unsteady, and I was worried that the rest of the council members would pick up on it and tear him to shreds. But as he progressed, his hands stopped trembling and when the color returned to his face, I was sure he wouldn't pass out or anything. But as I looked among the many faces, I saw growing resentment.

"So as you can see, it's simply a matter of a few companies who have grown way too big and have far too much power. It's actually gotten to the point where only a handful of greedy individuals have more influence over market prices than is healthy for the economy, which is why Firelord Zuko has approved of a few new laws. First and foremost, no company is allowed to have total control of any industry in any way, shape, or form. Second, any company in violation of this law will be shut down and divided. Lastly, all businesses are now required to report all assets, domestic and foreign."

A hand was raised and I nudged Terran to remind him to recognize Kin Sho. "Huh? Oh, yes, um, you may speak."

"Forgive me my lord, but I can't take much more of this. It is bad enough that I have been replaced with no warning after faithfully serving as head of this council for many years, but I absolutely refuse to sit here and listen to this…earth whelp call me a greedy business owner. My family's business has been around for generations, and there have never been any complaints about foul play. It is insulting and downright disrespectful. Young man, I don't care what you are the head of, as your elders, you are to show me and everyone else on this council more respect than that."

I considered saying something, but decided to see what Terran would do first. He looked like he was trying to steady his nerves, then surprised all of us by straightening up and looking right at Kin Sho. "I'm showing you respect right now by allowing you to even stay on this council. You may be my elder, but I am your leader, and you will respect me as such. One more outburst about my age, country of origin, or anything else about me that is none of your business, and you will be off the council permanently. The same goes for everyone else. I can assure all of you that I am a more than capable leader, and as long as the firelord feels the same way, I won't be leaving any time soon. So if any of you feel that your prejudices against me are more important than serving your nation, you are free to leave right now. No one is making you stay." There was dead silence as Terran and Kin Sho continued to glare at each other. "Unless you want me to announce what I think is the real reason you "couldn't" handle this issue yourself in the first place, I'd suggest you either sit or leave."

The former head glared at him for a few more seconds before reluctantly sitting down.

"Anyone else?" Terran took their silence as a no.

I let out a breath that I didn't realize I was holding when Terran sat back down in his seat, and the meeting continued.

* * *

**Aang's POV**

"That will be all for today. This meeting will begin again tomorrow morning, same time. Everyone is dismissed."

The representatives slowly gathered their things and filed out of the room. I don't know how much more yelling and arguing I can possibly take. It took everything in me not to stand up and blast everyone out of the room.

I got up and began walking to my balcony for some tea and quiet meditation time before going over the trade suggestions that were presented. However on my way there, I happened to see Katara sitting on the front steps of the palace looking at some documents. Quietly talking with someone is just as relaxing as meditating right?

"Hi Katara."

Katara looked up at me with her sea blue eyes and smiled. "Hey Aang."

"What's that?" I asked, sitting next to her.

She sighed and leaned on my side. "Some reparation requests from the North Pole that are still pending. I'm beginning to wonder if the Fire Nation will ever be able to redeem itself."

"I'm sure it eventually will. The world can't stay angry forever."

"Aang? Katara? What are you guys doing out here?"

We turned around to see Terran coming toward us.

"Trying to escape the yelling and headaches. Are you done already? I was expecting your meeting to last well into the night."

"Really? How long do those things usually last?"

"It depends. But it's common for a meeting to last all day or even stretch over multiple days. How did things go for you?"

Terran sat next to me. "Rough at first. I actually managed to get them to take me seriously, but I know it's just a matter of time before some resign their seats."

"That's ok. As long as you made it clear that you weren't going to allow anyone to walk all over you, then that's all that matters. Replacements can be easily found." I said, putting my hand on his shoulder.

Terran smiled at me, but then sighed and lay back with his hands under his head. "So what do you guys do for fun around here? That is assuming that there's enough time."

"We occasionally go shopping, eat out, go on nature walks, or just wander around the city. And of course, we always manage to find time for dating. Say, have you been with Toph on a date yet?"

Terran's cheeks flushed red. "Not really."

"Oh! You two should go on date sometime! It would be a great way for you to get to know the city."

Katara stopped looking at her documents and lifted her head from my shoulder. "Yeah, that's a great idea!"

"That would be nice, but I've never been on a real date before. Besides, I don't know what we would do."

"That's ok. I have plenty of experience with dating dos and don'ts. Between me, Sokka, and Zuko, we'll have you acting like a natural."

"Thanks Aang, but I've got a lot to deal with right now. I have a lot of work to do, not to mention that I'm still coming to terms with being a possible target of rebel attacks. Maybe later. I'm sure Toph would understand." Terran said with a sad smile. He got up and went back into the palace.

Katara looked up at me. "He's not going to do this on his own, is he?"

"Probably not. Remember when we first started dating? Zuko had to practically shove me out the front door with you. Earthbenders may prefer to face things head on, but I think even they have things they would rather avoid."

"Wait. Are you actually justifying that we meddle? But you hate meddling in the love affairs of others."

"True. But I think it may do more good than harm in this case. But just this once."

Katara smiled teasingly at me and planted a kiss on my cheek. "Whatever you say, oh mighty avatar."

* * *

**Toph's POV**

"Remind me again why Terran is even free to do this. I thought he had a trade conference to go to."

Katara let out an exaggerated sigh. "I already told you. Aang thought it would be better if he went instead. Why do you even care? You should be happy that Terran is taking you on your first date."

"I am happy. I'm just a little suspicious of the details." I searched Katara for any signs of lying, but since I found none, I decided to just let it slide but still be on the alert. It was a few weeks after we arrived back to the palace, and I had somehow been convinced to come to Suki's room for, quote, "a very important development" after learning that my last meeting for the day had mysteriously been postponed.

"You know Toph, this is your first date ever. Are you sure you don't want any advice? I seriously think you could use it."

"Listen Suki. I don't need any tips, advice, or anything else. I mean seriously, how hard can this possibly be? I just go out, have fun, and come back. What's the big deal?"

"Well for starters, you could actually bathe before leaving. I don't care what you say; that thin layer of dust is unsightly and isn't healthy for _anyone_. You could also wear something better than what you have on now. You weren't planning on wearing that to your meeting, were you?"

I looked up from the marbles I was idly playing with to where I assumed Katara was. "For your information, I _was_ planning on bathing, and no, I wasn't going to wear this to my meeting. I simply changed after hearing that it was postponed, which by the way, I'm still suspicious about. Frankly, I don't think Terran will care anyway."

Katara got up and walked to the door. "Believe me when I say that you can look a lot better than that. I'm going to your closet to have a look around, and when I come back, I expect you to be clean."

Grumbling to myself, I made my way to Suki's bathroom and washed my precious coating of earth away. Once I was finished, I went back into the room to find that Katara had already come back and I could just barely feel the light vibrations of the clothes she was holding. I reluctantly stood in front of her and hoped that she hadn't found the ridiculously frilly dresses I had banished to the back of my closet.

"Here. This looks more appropriate."

To my relief, it wasn't a stupid dress. "Hey, this feels exactly like what I'm wearing right now."

"But this outfit is more polished and doesn't make you look scruffy."

"If you say so." I changed in the bathroom and came back out only to be forced into one of the chairs in the room. "What are you doing?"

I could practically hear the smirk in Suki's voice. "Now we can tell you all the finer points of-"

"Didn't I tell you back in that steam room that I don't want any of your dumb advice?!" Just great. Those two are so annoying, they're making my eye twitch.

"But Toph, we just want to help. It's not like me or Katara have any younger sisters do this with…"

I groaned when Suki's mopey voice actually made me feel the tiniest bit sympathetic. "Alright! You don't have to beg. What do you want me to know?"

I just knew they were grinning as they started rambling about do this and don't that and what not. Ah, the joys of zoning out.

* * *

**Sokka's POV**

"Sokka do you see anything? He should have walked by here by now." Aang was nervously pacing back and forth behind me, wondering if he had done his job right.

"Well he hasn't, and no, I don't see anything. Be patient. He should be passing by here any minute."

I peeked out of Zuko's bedroom door to see if a certain male earthbender was passing by. Not seeing anything, I ducked back into the room to wait some more.

"You guys can be so stupid sometimes. Why not just ask him upfront instead of sneaking around and snatching him into a room?" Mai asked, looking up from her book.

I turned my head around to face her. "Because this way is cooler and more forceful. So there." I looked back out into the hallway for any signs of Terran. "Aang, where did you leave that note for him?"

"In his room, just like we planned, and it wasn't even that long ago."

"Wait! I see him. He's coming this way. Everyone be quiet." I hissed as I saw Terran approaching down the hall. Luckily, he was walking on our side and fairly close to the doors. I stepped back and waited until he was just about to walk by the room then quickly reached out and drug him in by his arm.

"Hey! What's going on?!" Terran asked, looking around wildly and assuming a fighting stance.

"You are taking Toph out on a date, that's what. Now hand over your advisor robe, because you won't need it." Aang held his hand out expectantly.

Terran dropped his stance and took a moment to look at everyone, I guess to see if we were being serious before finally settling his gaze on Zuko. "He's kidding, right?"

"I'm afraid not."

Aang created a strong gust of air under Terran and blew the robe off. "Sorry Terran, but it's clear that you aren't going to take the initiative yourself."

"I can't do this right now! I have a very important trade conference to attend."

"That's already been taken care of. I'll be attending in your place. I've already been briefed on everything I'll need to know."

Terran crossed his arms and looked at the grinning airbender. "Does Toph know anything about this yet?"

"Of course she does."

"But guys, I don't even know where to go. Aang, you know I've never been on a date before."

"Don't worry. The rest of us have been on tons of them. In fact, I was just as nervous as you on my first date with Katara."

"So what should I do then? Toph isn't a conventional girl. Not that I find that to be a bad thing, but it does make things a bit more…challenging."

Aang, Zuko and I all looked at each other trying to come up with something to say. It was then that I realized just what kind of a position Terran was in. What would be an ideal thing to do if Toph were my date? Not that she is or ever will be. Nope. Because Terran is with her and not me.

_Do you realize how utterly pathetic you sound right now?_

At least I'm capable of saying it with my mouth.

…_you didn't have go there._

"Well I got nothing. Man, you really chose a tough person to be with."

Zuko crossed his arms. "Sokka, you're not helping."

"Alright! Uh…the best thing you can do is to try your best not to upset her and keep your ideas simple but thoughtful. She'll get really annoyed if you try to be too flashy."

"So where should I take her? I haven't really got a chance to get to know the area."

"You'll figure all that out. In the mean time, there are certain formalities you have to go through."

"Formalities? What are you talking about?" Aang asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You know, the standard grilling. Usually the girl's father does it, but since Lord Bei Fong isn't here, it looks like I'll have to do it."

Terran looked at me like I was insane. "Grilling?"

I pulled my trusty fake beard out of an inner pocket on my tunic and assumed the most fatherly voice I could, which surprisingly, was no different from my Wang Fire voice.

"Now then, young man, you are interested in Toph, yes?"

Mai looked up from what she was reading. "And you actually trust what he told you. One day, Terran, you'll learn."

"I'm trying to do something here. Now where was I? Ah yes." I strode confidently up to Terran and looked him straight in the eye. "What are your intentions with Toph?!"

Terran just looked back at Zuko. "Is he usually this random?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Who are your parents? I can't allow my little Toph to be courting some unruly hooligan."

"You already know who my parents are."

"Do you have a criminal record? Where do you live? How well will you be able to provide for Toph's needs?"

"You want to know my shoe size while you're at it?"

"Oh, a smart mouth, eh? Let's get one thing straight. I don't tolerate shady individuals. So if you're planning on trying anything inappropriate, remember to sleep with your eyes open because I know where you live."

"Then why did you ask me where I live? Is this really necessary?"

Suki popped her head in the doorway. "Hey guys. The rest of us are waiting."

"Not now Suki. I still have a few more questions for Terran."

"Can I _please_ just go now? Sokka is starting to scare me."

Suki crossed her arms and looked at me. "Sokka, quit being stupid and leave him alone. He's under enough stress as it is."

"Very well then. But you are to have her home at a decent hour. Do I make myself clear, young man?!"

"Terran, don't pay him any mind. Just have fun." Suki then turned her attention to me. "As for _you_, Sokka, I think your time would be better spent doing something constructive. Come help me do the grocery shopping for the ambassadors conference next week." Suki said, roughly pulling me out of the room by the back of my tunic.

* * *

**Terran's POV**

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Toph turned to face Katara. "So you don't want us to do anything that might be the least bit fun?"

"Ha ha. Just stay out of trouble."

But as Toph and I left the front steps, I couldn't shake the feeling that, knowing Toph, trouble would find us soon enough.

* * *

**Since I'm having a really difficult time trying to come up with ideas for what Terran and Toph should do, I'm asking for any suggestions. Also, I'm sorry that Sokka's inner voice didn't really have that much of a part in this chapter, but I promise that it will in the next chapter. **


	15. Chapter 15

**Hi everyone. Sorry this chapter took sooooo long, but school got in the way and I got distracted by one of my computer games. These next two months are going to be really busy for me, but I will not stop working on this fic until it is complete, just bear with me. Due to the fact that I can't respond to unsigned reviews by pm, I will be responding to them here. **

**To: Bia Asakura: Yes, he totally owned the fire council and I had a lot of fun writing that scene. And thank you for the suggestions. For some reason my brain has been moving slow lately.**

**To: greenmint: It's ok. I like long reviews. Anyway, yeah, when I thought about Sokka and his Wang Fire act in the show, I was like "I have got to do something like that in my fic!" Glad you liked it. Thank you for posting suggestions, and as for Toph's "fiancé", or rather, ex-fiance, yes, I do plan on bringing him back in a later chapter, but not in the way you would expect.**

* * *

**Toph's POV**

Terran and I made our way out the palace gates and headed down the main road toward the capital city as the last of the sun's warm rays slowly faded away. I noticed that Terran seemed fidgety and kept nervously moving to pull at his clothes.

"Will you get a grip? It's not like I'm going to bite your head off or anything." I said, pushing him on his shoulder to snap him out of it. Terran mumbled an apology and continued to walk in silence. "So, is this your first time in the city?"

"Yeah. We'll just do whatever you want to do, since I obviously don't know where anything is."

I felt a smirk worm it way onto my face as an idea formed. "Good, because I think this is a great opportunity for you to learn how to let go. You need to learn how to bend the rules and not give a damn who thinks what."

"Uh, didn't Katara say to stay _out_ of trouble?"

I sighed and smacked my hand against my forehead. This is going to be harder than I thought. "What did I just finish saying? Stop caring about what other people say." I pulled ahead and stood right in front of him. "There is a time and place to follow rules and heed the warnings of others. This is neither the time nor the place. Now, promise that you will engage in as much shenanigans and rule breaking as you damn well feel like."

"…do I really have to promise that?"

"Is that even a question?"

Terran sighed. "I promise."

"Awesome. Now let's go have some fun." I quickly formed a wave of earth and hopped on. "Last one to the city smells like Appa's butt!"

Before Terran could say anything, I sped off down the road. But I could still hear his voice rise above the thundering of my bending as he hastily formed his own wave to surf on. "Hey, no fair! You got a head start!"

"What did I say about rules?!"

Terran seemed to finally catch on as I felt a tremor come from his direction followed by several rock spires randomly springing out of the ground in front of me and then going back down. I easily dodged them all of course, but it was the idea that mattered.

* * *

**Terran's POV**

The city was just as beautiful and vibrant as it looked from my bedroom window. Lamps that turned night into day adorned the sides of the street. The area was alive with vendors selling their wares. Families as well as individuals went about their business. Children darted about, chasing each other and generally being a pain to the teens and adults they bumped into.

"So what do you want to do first, Toph?"

I looked down at her and almost stopped breathing when I saw an especially impish smirk on her lips. I struggled to keep my heartbeat calm as that would only encourage her, but failed miserably.

"That depends on what prank opportunity comes up first."

Toph stood very still, I guess to survey the area. She snapped her head in some random direction.

"See that guy sitting over there?" I looked where Toph was pointing and saw some guy sitting on a bench by himself. "Watch and learn."

The single braid that ran down Toph's back bounced back and forth as she trotted over to where the guy was sitting and engaged him in what looked like a lively conversation. I was too far away to hear anything over the surrounding noise, but that didn't matter when Toph stood up and yelled for everyone to hear.

"For the last time, I will NOT have sex with you! I don't even know you! Leave me alone you sick freak!"

Toph then casually strolled away, and left the man sitting there looking around confused. It wasn't long before other people were staring disapprovingly at him and moving their children away from him.

Toph arrived back to where I was standing and looked up at me grinning. "Your turn."

"That was horrible…"

"Yeah, and?"

"…that was also the most hilarious thing I've ever seen." I added with a smile.

"Glad to hear it."

As we continued to make our way around the city, I saw what looked to be a birthday party with little kids running around some tables stock piled with gifts and food. A rather sinister idea formed in my head when I noticed that there were no drinks.

"Toph, I have an idea."

"Finally. What's the target?"

"The birthday party on the outside deck of that restaurant. I need you to lead me to the back door of the kitchen."

I followed Toph to the back door and she pulled me behind some trash cans.

"What's the plan?"

"It's something I noticed over the years. The idea is to get different sized cups to use to serve drink to the kids. My guess is that the party is being catered to by the restaurant. I need you to help me get several containers of juice and different sized cups from the kitchen."

Once Toph and I tip toed to the door, she metalbent the lock open and we stepped inside. Just as I guessed, everyone was too busy rushing around to notice us, especially since we were wearing Fire Nation clothing.

Since Toph had trouble sensing the cups in the concentrated commotion, she went to fetch the much heavier juice while I went in search of the cups. I managed to find a tray first and after trying some cabinets, I finally found plenty of freshly washed cups next to the sink. They only came in small, medium, and large, but that was good enough. Items in hand, Toph and I then rushed out the back door.

"They aren't looking. Quick, put the stuff on the table and let's go!"

We ran from the restaurant and chose a good place to watch a short distance away.

"What was all that for? We actually did them a favor." Toph asked, crossing her arms.

"Just wait. It's coming."

A short time later, one of the adults noticed the drinks and decided to serve it to the kids. Just as I expected, chaos ensued.

"Hey, he has more than me!"

A woman, I guess a mother of one of the kids, turned to face the child. "No he doesn't, you all have the same amount. I measured."

This time a different child complained. "But that kid's cup is fuller than mine!"

The woman sighed and seemed to be getting annoyed. "That's because her cup is smaller. Will you please just enjoy what you have?"

The scene quickly turned into a battle field as the little kids fought over who had "more". Toph was having trouble catching her breath from laughing too much.

"That is brilliant!"

"Yep. I noticed that trick at a friend's party. It works every time."

"Let's get out of here. Those kids are getting pretty vicious."

I looked over at the insanity and winced as one of the kids jumped on another. "Yeah. Our work here is done.

……..

Toph and I tried so hard to keep a straight face as we stood in the middle of the street, staring up at nothing in particular and see how many people try to find out what we were looking at. People saw us and tilted their heads upward. Some of them walked into things because they were too focused on finding what we were staring at. We finally just had to leave to keep from laughing at all those people.

"That was funny." Toph said, as I looked back at all the confused people.

"Not as funny as you demanding that people sell things to your 'invisible friend.' I still can't believe one person actually played along. So…what should we do now?"

Toph's eyes brightened. "Oh! There's this restaurant that makes the best lava cakes."

"Lava cakes?"

"Come on you gotta try some!"

Toph grabbed my arm and dragged me off to a place called The Golden Dragon. As soon as we stepped inside, we came face to face with a prudish looking woman who was obviously too fat for her pants.

"Welcome to the Golden Dragon. Table for two?" I had no idea who the manager was, but he couldn't have been all that great to hire a hostess who looked like she hadn't smiled a day in her life.

"Yes, please."

She sighed and grabbed two menus. "Please follow me."

Toph held onto me as we made our way across the wooden floor. Once seated (Yes! Window table!) the woman gave us each a menu.

"The waiter will be with you in a moment."

Toph, for obvious reasons, just set her menu down. "See anything good on there?"

"I thought you came here before."

"I did. But it was always just for the lava cakes."

I sighed and looked over the menu. But it was the small card on the table that caught my eye. It looked like some sort of ad for a new dish they were selling.

"Toph, they have this new meal that looks really tasty. Want to try it?"

"Yeah I guess, so long as it doesn't say anything like mystery meat in the description."

I told the waiter our order and as we waited for the food to arrive, Toph began telling me about some of her adventures from when she was traveling with the avatar.

Soon enough, the waiter arrived with our food. Toph and I both agreed that what whatever the meat was, it tasted really good.

After a while, the waiter came back. "Are you enjoying your meal?"

"Yes, but I'm wondering what kind of meat this is."

The waiter looked thoughtful for a moment. "You'll have to forgive me, I'm new here. Uhh…lets see…oh yes, I believe I was told that it is some sort of imported meat. Something about a giant wolverine-rat."

Realization set in when we figured out what the waiter was telling us and Toph suddenly looked very sick and pale. "Do you mean badgermole?"

"Badgermole? Of course not. Why in the world would we serve something like that? I'm positive it's from the giant wolverine-rat. To my understanding, that one has been a hit since it was introduced."

I just sat there and stared at the waiter in disbelief. Any moron would know that giant wolverine-rat was another name for badgermole, but I guess this guy wasn't just any moron. Then again, I probably shouldn't expect someone not of the Earth Kingdom to know that right away. Nevertheless, it was still heart wrenching.

"Would you like to see a selection of our desserts?"

Desserts? Desserts?!! That guy just commits something comparable to murder, and he's going to offer us dessert?! I felt about ready to throw up, but Toph looked eerily calm. But I knew that just below that innocent exterior was a deadly storm waiting to unleash its fury.

"No thank you. That will be all." I croaked. When the guy left, I quickly looked at Toph, who was just sitting there trembling.

"Toph? Are you going to be ok?"

My anxiety grew until she finally answered slowly. "I ate my friends and mentors. The creatures who practically raised me. And I said that it was the best thing I had ever tasted."

"I know of one way to make it right."

"How can I possibly make things right?!" Toph said, her temper beginning to rise.

"There's bound to be more in the kitchen. Let's at least make sure they can't sell anymore for the rest of the night."

Toph just smiled wickedly as we got up, not bothering to pay, and made our way to the kitchen where we, especially Toph, made sure there wasn't a single scrap of badgermole meat in the whole place and swiftly dealt with anyone who had the audacity to say anything about it. As it turns out, Toph can still be very dangerous even without her bending.

**Toph's POV**

"Give my regards to the head chef." I said as I hoisted a bag of my dearly departed friends over my shoulder, leaving a room full of "recently enlightened" people behind me.

Once we were on the streets, Terran started flipping out. "Toph, I am SO sorry. I should have never ordered food I didn't recognize…"

"It's not your fault. And I don't think that place is entirely at fault either. Someone had to have sold them the meat and I suspect it was Earth Kingdom traders. I'll find out one way or another."

"But the badgermoles are sacred. Who would do that?"

"I don't know, but we'll deal with that later. Right now, I…we…need to find a quiet, isolated area."

Terran shifted his two bags on his shoulders. "What for?"

"A proper burial." I tried, unsuccessfully, to hide the single tear that managed to escape down my cheek. I felt Terran wipe it away, and move to untie something from his belt.

"If it'll make you feel better, we can enjoy these lava cakes I swiped." He said, passing the small bag to me. I was fairly upset, but even my current level of grief couldn't stand up to the sweet cherry smell of lava cakes. Unfortunately my brief moment of joy was shattered by a very familiar set of footsteps.

"Well if it isn't the blind wonder herself. How's it been, handicap? _See_ anything interesting lately?" His sickening laughter echoed in my sensitive ears. Terran's heartbeat elevated in agitation.

"Who is that?"

"The bane of my existence. His name is Mizo. Keep your guard up, he's one of the more powerful firebenders around here, and there are suspicions that he is somehow connected with the rebels." I growled. "Just ignore him and keep walking. Maybe he'll get tired and leave us alone."

I sped up my pace and Terran did likewise. "You actually _want_ to avoid him? That doesn't sound like you."

"Trust me, you don't want to deal with him."

But Mizo wasn't going away. He fire skated across the ground and stopped right in front of us. "Hey Toph, I said hi. You're not gonna greet me?"

"Outta my way."

"What for? I just want to talk. Who's the guy?"

"'The guy' is none of your business. Now move!" By now, my temper was at a dangerously high level and I realized I was subconsciously gritting my teeth the whole time.

"I think that's for him to decide, don't you? So how about it, what's your name?"

"Terran. Now will you please go away?"

"Whoa, wait, _you're_ Terran? You're the new guy who works for that joke of a firelord. Don't you know he was a banished prince? He was banished for dishonor and now he's our leader. How can you work for someone who was banished for being dishonorable?"

"If you knew the whole story you wouldn't be saying that. Now move aside. Toph and I have something important to do."

"What if I don't want to?"

Just as I felt Terran start to move forward, I stepped in front of him. "Back off!"

"Or you'll do what, sunshine? Teach me a lesson? Or have you forgotten our last encounter?"

Suddenly, I felt an area of intense heat move around right in front of my face. I immediately reacted with involuntary bending that sent a medium sized rock right into his face. He stumbled back shouting obscenities and, judging from his hunched over position and what he was saying, holding his nose.

"You made my nose bleed!"

"You waved fire in my face! You're lucky I didn't _break_ your stupid nose!"

In a flash, I felt searing heat approach me but it stopped suddenly when a large rocky wall rose up in front of me and Mizo's hand made an impact on it. He yelled in pain and Terran moved his hands to lower the wall.

"You want some of this, earth scum?!"

"Hey, don't push on me!"

Terran shoved him back, triggering a shoving match that quickly escalated into an all out street brawl.

**Sokka's POV**

"Suki?"

"Yeah?"

"Why do I see that cabbage guy everywhere I go? We saw him everywhere we went during the war and it hasn't changed. Is he following us or something?"

"How should I know? This is my second time seeing him. Now, do you think I should get the sword that weighs less or the one that has longer reach?"

I turned around and saw her looking at an assortment of weapons. "Aren't we supposed to be shopping for food?"

"Of course. But, you know, I can come back later and buy one of these… or both."

"Is…is that Mizo? What's he doing to Toph?!"

"Whatever it is, stay out of it. You can barely protect _yourself_ against him, let alone someone else. Besides, if Terran is with her, she'll be fine."

But as I turned back to the scene that was starting to get out of control, I saw Mizo push Terran after ramming his fist into a rock wall, and Terran promptly shove him back. A fight broke out and I momentarily wondered why neither of them was using any bending. But when Toph joined in and all three teens took the fight elsewhere, I just had to follow them.

"Suki, I'm…uh…going to look for those plums. Bye!"

_Why are you going after them?_

They are street fighting a dangerous firebender and Toph can't detect firebending attacks so well. You tell me.

_So? Terran is with her. Besides, what can you do except get in their way?_

I can do lots of stuff!

_Like?_

Like…use my sword to…uh…

_My point exactly. Why don't you actually listen to your girlfriend for once and go back?_

No way. Toph could get seriously burned just like she almost did last time.

_Oh yeah, that's right…your love obsession…_

I do NOT love- aw who am I kidding? Do you think Suki suspects anything?

_Probably not or otherwise you would be dead._

Yeah, your right. There they are!

I slipped between two buildings and watched the fight. Mizo had Terran pinned to the ground and both guys were pummeling each other fiercely. Toph knocked Mizo to the ground by slamming a rock encrusted fist into him. Wheezing, he shakily got up and fired a relatively weak fire blast at her that she easily blocked. However, he caught her off guard by firing another one right after the first, and looked like he was gearing up for an even bigger one as he regained his breath.

I have to do something!

_No you don't. It's being handled. There's no sense in you getting- hey what are you doing?!_

What's it look like I'm doing?!

Sword drawn, I charged at Mizo, ready to dodge if he decided to redirect his attack at me. With my luck, he did, but I soon realized the fireball of death was coming a lot faster than I had anticipated.

_Oh man, we're gonna die!!_

But fortunately, I didn't die. A large wall appeared right in front of me at the last minute, and Terran's angry but concerned voice came from the side of me.

"Do you have death wish?! Get out of here before you get burned!"

"But I…"

"Sokka, just go. Terran and I can handle this." Toph yelled as she twisted Mizo's arm behind his back and he desperately tried to escape her earth-gloved hands. Terran turned to go help her double team him, leaving me to just stand there for a moment before reluctantly going back.

_You moron! You could've been incinerated! Trust me when I tell you that there are less lethal ways of getting Toph's attention._

I didn't do it for attention! She was in trouble!

_Don't lie to me, I know what you think. You totally did that for approval. Too bad it didn't work._

Could you just shut it?! I feel plenty depressed without you rubbing it in.

_It wouldn't have happened if you had just listened. You need to listen to me more. With my help, Toph will be practically jumping into your arms._

But I don't want to steal her away from Terran, it would make me feel low. Plus, what am I supposed to do about Suki? I don't think I could just let her go.

_Leave all of that to me. You just focus on not getting hit by that rock._

Rock?

Out of the corner of my vision, I saw a rock flying at me, and without thinking, I drew my sword and swatted it away. I turned to see some sneaky kids giggling at me, but the loud braying of a donky-moose shifted my attention. I had apparently hit it with the rock on accident, and I watched as it crashed right into a woman's cart.

"My watermelons! My precious watermelons!"

Oh great. Another person that I just know I'll keep bringing misfortune to.

* * *

**Terran's POV**

"You think he's had enough?" Toph asked with a wide grin.

"Yeah, let him go." But I couldn't resist punching Mizo one last time just to do it.

We let go of him and watched him slide down the wall and start coughing on the ground.

"This...isn't over. You two...will regret this!"

Toph just rolled her eyes and nonchalantly waved her hand. "Yeah yeah. Why don't you go cry to your mommy and get her to kiss your bruises."

Mizo growled at us before limping off.

I let out a deep breath. "That was fun."

Toph let out a fake, overly exaggerated gasp and looked at me. "What's this? The bookworm actually thinks violence is fun? Miracles _do_ happen!"

"I'm not a violent person, but that guy was asking for it. I'm just surprised that nobody seemed to care that we were fighting in the streets."

"That's because fights happen all the time here. No one really gets stressed about it."

"Weird. Well now that all that's over, let's go find a good place to- oh no! The bags!"

"Don't worry. While you and Mizo were shoving each other, I hid them underground. It's just a matter of tracking them."

* * *

**Toph's POV**

"Say something." As I stood in front of the small hole that functioned as a grave, I tried to hold back tears that wanted so desperately to fall.

"Umm…we stand here tonight to say goodbye to our sacred friends who met a very unfortunate fate. What's done is done, and all we can do now is promise that justice will be served."

I raised an eyebrow and looked at where his head must have been. "That's it?"

I felt Terran lift his arm to rub the back of his head. "I'm not very good at stuff like this. Do you want to say anything?"

I turned to the small hole. "Thank you for being the best teachers and friends I've ever had. You were the first to understand me and accept me for who I was, even when my own family didn't. For all that, I don't think I could ever do enough to repay you."

With that, Terran closed up the hole and I went to go sit at the edge of the pond that was close by.

"Toph, I'm sorry."

Terran sat next to me and I looked at him questioningly. "Sorry? What for? You didn't do anything."

"For this whole evening. I wanted this date to be happy, and fun, and… well this wasn't. I mean, it started out great, but after that it was just one bad thing after another. I just think you deserved better than this."

"What are you talking about? I had a blast messing with people's heads, we were able to stop a restaurant from putting badgermoles on a plate, and I got to kick Mizo's ass. This was a great night in my book."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Something doesn't have to be perfect to be fun. In fact, that's usually the reason why its fun. And you even picked out this great tranquil place outside the city to pay our last respects. Yes, it's sad that some of the badgermoles were killed, but at least we could properly bury them instead of letting them end up on someone's plate. Trust me, you didn't mess up. Now what have you done with those lava cakes?"

* * *

**Toph's POV**

"Shhh! We don't want to wake anyone up." But I froze when I felt the vibrations of a certain waterbender, making Terran almost run into me.

"Stop. Right. There."

Uh oh. "Heh heh. Hey Sugar Queen, how's it going?"

Katara clearly wasn't buying my fake smile. Then again, why did I expect her to? "Would you care to explain why the manager of The Golden Dragon restaurant came here stating that we owe them money for a meal that you two didn't pay for and more food that you stole out of the kitchen?"

"Hey, that place was selling badgermole meat!"

"I don't care! That doesn't give you the right to steal from people! And what did I tell you about staying out of trouble? We have enough people who hate us without you going out making more enemies. That man was furious!"

"You know what? If that's the only person you had to deal with, then I say you got very lucky."

"What? Why? What did you do?!"

Terran and I turned to each other before taking off toward our rooms, leaving Katara yelling behind us.

When I got to my room, I felt Terran stop in my doorway.

"Any chance I can come in?"

I just smirked and pushed him away. "I believe the rules are 'not on the first date.'"

"But what if Katara breaks into my room and kills me for joining you in shenanigans? Besides, I thought you said not to follow the rules."

"I also said that there was a time and place to follow rules."

"…please?"

"No." I said, kissing him good night and shuting the door.

* * *

**In case any of you were wondering, no, Terran wasn't trying to get any. He just didn't want to sleep by himself. By the way, Terran's prank on those little kids really does work. My mother told me it was something that her old phychology professor said to her class. As always, please leave a review, signed or not, I don't care. **


	16. Chapter 16

**-tip toes in with new chapter and gets spotted-**

**Oh! Heh,heh. Hey there. Long time no see. Yeah, about that. One of Life's annoying friends, writer's block decided to move in with me and together, they ran me ragged. It was tragic and heatbreaking. Hopefully I won't see those two for a while. Anyway, here is the next chapter. I must say, I am very disappointed with this one for some reason. Maybe I expected too much. If you also have any concerns with the quality of this chapter, please don't hesitate to let me know. **

**Unsigned Review Responses:**

**To greenmint: Thanks, I was worried that I had made their date night a little too unusual. Sokka's inner voice is becoming one of my favorite characters to write, though I am still trying to straighten out it's personality. And can you tell that I just love to pick on poor Sokka, giving him all kinds of problems to deal with and stuff? I'll have to think of something to balance that out.**

**To Bia Asakura: Of course I answered your review. It would be very uncaring of me if I didn't. Anyway, as far as Toph's PETA-like actions go (lol), I had to do what seemed the most realistic for her to do in that situation, and based on what I have seen, that was it. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender. There, are you happy, Viacom?!**

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* * *

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**Toph's POV**

I made my way through the palace grounds, feeling the cool, wet morning dew on the grass. Today was going to be a long day, and I couldn't think of a better way to start than spending a couple hours clearing my head in peace and quiet. I headed toward the stables to get my favorite meditating buddy.

"Cabi? Caaabiii. Wake up. You in there?"

I went behind the stables and stuck my head into the entrance of Cabi's underground den. I was soon welcomed with the familiar sniffing of a very dusty snout. Cabi slowly made her way out of her den and tackled me in a big badgermole hug.

"Someone's in a good mood today. Wanna come meditate with me?"

Cabi licked my face and purred. "Alright, enough. I'll take that as a yes."

After several minutes of struggling, Cabi finally released me from her grip and we headed to my favorite spot: a small waterfall that emptied into a very shallow creek. Normally, a creek wouldn't exactly be my definition of a relaxing place, but everything is so tranquil there, and it's so shallow that I can still see when wading in it.

"Ok Cabi, you stay here, and please don't leave a mess if you decide to catch your breakfast."

Cabi just stood there until she finally decided to go roll around in a pile of dead leaves. After taking off my outer clothing, I waded into the water and stopped right under the waterfall. I then gathered a bunch of rocks and carefully lined them up one on top of the other with me sitting on the very top. Sitting with my legs crossed, I closed my eyes and focused on withstanding the force of the waterfall and keeping the rocks perfectly straight. Focusing a little more, I kept the tower of rocks completely still and reached out with my senses. I smiled to myself as I became extremely aware of everything. The pitter patter of small animal feet scattered across the area came in as clear as if I were standing right next to them. The sound of the rushing water from the waterfall became a gentle hum as other sounds like the singing of birds took over. Every single muscle relaxed as my stress melted away. A couple hours later, I could feel the rays of the morning sun on my skin and two figures showed up in my sight radius.

"Hi Toph! Terran just gave me my first lavabending lesson! It's a lot harder than it looks though."

My tower of rocks wavered a little when Aang's loud and overly excited voice rang in my ears, nearly breaking my concentration. But I still smirked when I noticed Terran standing extremely still and his heart rate was elevated. It was obvious that he was staring, but I was hoping he could have at least been a little discreet about it.

"Enjoying the view, Bookworm?"

Terran seemed to snap out of it, and despite having been caught in the act, tried to cover it.

"Huh? Oh, uh yeah…the landscape is really beautiful this morning. That's a cool earthbending trick, by the way."

Smiling, I jumped down from my perch, letting the rocks fall back to the ground, and wandered over to where Terran was just to mess with him.

"You really think so? I could show you sometime if you want."

I struggled to keep from laughing when his heart rate increased the closer I got to him. "Uh…that…would be nice…I guess."

"And who knows? If you learn it fast enough, I might just show you how to see through the earth. What do you say? Just you and me."

By now, I was in serious violation of his personal space, but it was so fun to feel him grow increasingly nervous about being so close to me in my undergarments. I found it kind of weird actually, considering that he seemed to have no problem with practically making out with me back in Ba Sing Se. Oh well, whatever his deal was, I was very amused.

"Sure, we…could do that." I snickered at his voice cracking. "Uh, Toph? Could you maybe, you know, take a few steps back…and put some clothes on?"

I looked up at where I assumed his face to be and smirked. This seemed to just make him even more nervous. Chuckling at the scene, Aang finally stepped in and pulled me away from him.

"That's enough. Give the poor guy a break."

But I couldn't resist having one more go at it. "Aww, Terran knows I'm just playing, right?" I walked up to him and threw my arms around his waist, no doubt getting his tunic wet and probably causing his brain to shut down. He finally managed to get his arms working again to peel me off of him and hand me the towel I had sitting on a nearby rock.

"So, you guys ready to go do back breaking work? Or as Aang likes to put it, 'build some character?'" I said, quickly drying off and grabbing my shirt.

"But it does build character. Don't you feel really good inside knowing that you're helping others?"

"Usually, the only thing I feel inside is a tight, nagging pain in my arms and back. Helping others doesn't-"

"Forgive me for interrupting, but what back breaking work are we talking about?"

I turned my attention to Terran. "Construction work. You know, the public relations thing I told you about? Most of the projects happen in the fall and winter when it isn't so hot outside, and guess what? It's mid fall. Good times, eh?"

"The work can't be that bad if we're helping people, right?"

"You'll see. Cabi! It's time to go!" I said, laughing at his naivety and started walking back to the palace. Cabi followed close behind with something struggling in her mouth that made Aang noticeably flinch.

* * *

**Katara's POV**

I pored over the blueprints in front of me as we all enjoyed breakfast. Mai, who was the last one to the table, was acting unusually moody today, even for her.

"Good morning, Mai."

She just looked at me and took her seat. "What's so good about it?"

We all looked bewildered at each other. Everyone that is, except for Toph, who slowly lowered her chopsticks and looked like she was scanning the room for something.

"Is something wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong, Katara. I'm just not feeling all that great today. Now will everyone please stop looking at me like I'm going to spontaneously combust." She sniffed the air and covered her nose in disgust. "And could whoever is drinking ginseng tea _please_ not get seconds. That stuff is giving me a headache."

Zuko stopped eating and stared bewildered at her. "But…you love ginseng tea. Maybe you should let Katara look you over at some point today."

"I don't need to see a healer. Really, it's probably just something I ate. I'll be fine." Mai said, clearly growing more agitated.

At this point, I noticed Toph's eyes go wide for a moment before a small, knowing smile gradually made an appearance.

"I think I know what's wrong. Mai, I need you to step out into the hall for a few seconds."

Mai sighed and followed Toph out into the hall.

Sokka went back to eating. "What's with her? She's even gloomier than usual, and I didn't even think that was possible."

Zuko sighed and sank into his chair. "I'm not sure, but she's been acting strange for the past few days. Just yesterday, she didn't wake up until mid day and then felt very lethargic. The day before that, she ate two whole pies and didn't feel the least bit sick afterward."

"I remember that. She wouldn't even share with me. When I asked for some, she threw some of her knives and pinned me to the wall." Terran said, looking up from his food.

Just then, Toph and Mai came back into the room and sat down. Mai looked at all of us and cleared her throat. "As it turns out, there's nothing actually _wrong_ with me, but there is something I need to tell all of you. I don't know how to say this without being blunt so…I'm pregnant."

Zuko instantly started choking on his food, but was able to cough it up. "What?!"

"Didn't you hear me? I said I'm pregnant."

Zuko just sat there and looked at her dumbfounded. "But…but…but…"

Toph and Sokka burst out laughing. "Congratulations Sparky. Hope you like changing diapers."

The shocked firelord and father-to-be took a deep breath and seemed to be coming back to his senses. "Ok. I'm going to need everyone to listen to me carefully. No one is to be told about this unless either I or Mai says otherwise. If the rebels ever get word of this, our security will be that much more threatened."

Suki looked at him questioningly. "But there's no way you can hide this for long. In a few months, Mai will start to show."

"Which is why I'll need her to stay here in the palace when that time comes."

"Fine by me. I won't feel like moving much anyway." Mai said, not looking the least bit fazed.

"Good morning kids. Why is everyone smiling?" Ursa strode into the room holding a small scroll.

Zuko looked up with a small smile. "Uh, well, you see…you're going…to be a grandmother."

Ursa raised an eyebrow in confusion and looked at Mai as if asking if this was a joke. Not seeing any reason to think it was, she joyously ran over to her son and squeezed him in a tight hug. "I can't believe my little Zuko is going to be a father. It seems like yesterday you were just a baby yourself."

"Sweet! Maybe when the little tyke gets older, I can teach him or her all of my finest scams."

Zuko spun around, his face twisted in indignation. "You're not corrupting my child with any of your monkey shine, Toph!"

I stepped in before any arguing could start. "Guys, we'll talk about this later, right now, we need to get to the construction site."

"Yeah, and hopefully, I won't be the 'pack mule' this time. You guys were really mean about it in the last project." Sokka narrowed his eyes at Toph and his mouth curled up at the corners. "Toph, I think it's your turn this time. I hear the job calls for a lot of heavy lifting."

Toph walked toward the dining room door, shoving Sokka out of her way. "In your dreams. As if you'll ever be able to bully me into anything."

* * *

**Terran's POV**

"Hey she's in here!"

I looked up from the boards I was nailing together to see Sokka and a bunch of guys chasing Toph around and trying to stay clear of her bending.

"What are you nuckleheads doing?! Stay away from me! "

I watched Toph get chased into a partially constructed building, but by the time she realized her mistake, Sokka had her cornered.

"Sokka, I'm warning you…"

The warrior just narrowed his eyes and smirked. "Sorry, but those threats are so empty right now."

Toph tried to slip away but failed when Sokka lunged at her and tackled her to the wooden floor. Just when she was starting to gain the upper hand, several guys joined him to subdue the enraged little earthbender. Soon, the largest one stood and held a very ruffled Toph up and away from him by the back of her collar. Sokka stood up clapping and laughing.

"Attention everyone! We have a new pack mule today! And good news, this one's a first timer, so feel free to give her a hard time."

Toph squirmed and violently kicked around in the air. "Sokkaaaa! You are so DEAD when we get back home!"

Sokka just grinned. "Ok Toph, I need you to demolish this old factory and haul the pieces over to those guys standing over by the carts."

Toph continued to scowl at him when the man holding her finally put her down. Nevertheless, she turned to face the large rundown factory. In a jaw-dropping display of metalbending, Toph rubbed her hands together, grabbed a large support beam, and forcefully pulled on it at the base. The creaking, groaning sound of metal reverberated across the site as an entire wall of the factory collapsed. Toph formed a protective shell of earth around herself to avoid the falling metal scraps. Once the raining of metal stopped, she then went on a rampage throughout the rest of the factory, using a combination of regular earthbending and metalbending to tear through the metal like it was wet paper. I know all too well about her reputation as the world's most powerful earthbender, but I was still shocked at the amount of power in this one little person. Once the factory was brought down, people began moving in to remove the scraps. While they used carts to haul them away, Toph bended a box around some of the metal and pushed it.

"Excellent! We can put another house here and the area behind it should prove to be great farmland. Toph, you can finish up that expansion on the barn while the rest of us build the framework for the house. Terran, is that tar ready?"

"Hey, why do you get to call the shots? I'm the one stuck building an entire barn by myself." Toph glared at Sokka with her arms crossed.

"Of course, that's what the pack mule does. Good luck, sport."

"How am I supposed to do all that by myself?! I don't even know how big to make this thing! You're the one with the building plans. Why can't you get over here and help me?"

"Because I'm the idea guy and Zuko said I could be in charge of the farmlands while he takes care of the new schools. So that means you have to do what I say- for once."

"Well then, Idea Guy, here's an idea for you. Why don't I get you some lip paint so you can kiss my ass! I'm not doing all that work alone."

"Fine. Uhh…Terran! You aren't doing anything. Take these blueprints and help Toph with the expansions. The supplies are in those wagons over there." Sokka pointed out some rather large wagons and stuffed a bunch of drawings into my arms.

I looked at the blueprints and then at the land we would be building on and sighed. The last of the expansion would be on land that was lumpy to say the least, and would need flattening before anything else could be done. Raising a table and setting the plans down, I grudgingly went to work tamping the land.

"Terran, what are you doing? Toph is the pack mule. She's the one who should be doing that, not you! That's why I gave you the plans! That and because Toph can't read them anyway."

I looked over to where Sokka was yelling at me from, and saw him suddenly get buried up to his neck. Toph walked up next to me pulling some boards behind her. "Don't pay the loud mouth any attention. He doesn't know what he's talking about."

"Toph! We caught you fair and square, so you better do that work! I'm sure you're familiar with the punishment for anyone designated as the pack mule who refuses their responsibilities…"

The smirk on Toph's face disappeared and was replaced with a fierce scowl, though I did detect a tinge of fear buried somewhere in it. She promptly turned around to finish flattening and clearing the land of trees, but not before popping Sokka out of the ground, encased in an earth cylinder, and sent him rolling away on his side.

**Sokka's POV**

Stupid Toph and her stupid attitude. She was practically a slave driver when I did it last time. Well now its my turn, and I shall have my revenge! Mwhahahahahaha!

_You really need to work on your evil laugh. Its slipping._

Oh great, not now.

_What? I enjoy our little chit chats._

Well, I don't. You make me question my sanity.

"Alright Sokka, hold still. Just one more hit…"

Kye took careful aim with the frighteningly large hammer he was holding and swung down. The vibrations shook me up a bit, but at least I was finally free of that rock cylinder thing. I slowly got to my feet with Kye laughing the whole time.

"Try to stay out of trouble."

I narrowed my eyes at him in annoyance. "Gee, thanks."

I finished brushing the little bits of dirt off my clothing and looked up to see Suki running toward me.

"Sokka, one of the workers fell off the roof of that house over there and we need you to fill in for him."

"Umm, why did he fall off the roof and what makes you think the same thing won't happen to me?"

"Just come help us spread tar on the roof."

Suki grabbed my arm and dragged me away to a house in the distance. She then jumped onto the roof and threw down a rope tied to a hook.

"Send up that tar over there."

As I was hooking the container up, I noticed Terran doing his own roof work on the barn.

_What on earth is he doing? Since when do barns have chimneys?_

He does know that's a barn and not a smoke house, right?

_Apparently not, he's putting what looks like a chimney on there. That moron!_

"Terran, what are you doing?! That's supposed to be a barn, not a smokehouse!"

Terran yelled something incoherent back that made Suki look up from what she was doing.

"Leave him alone and come up here so you can lay the shingles down. Terran knows what he's doing."

"Suki, what barn do you know of has a chimney? I'm just going to go over there and see what's up. It is my job to supervise after all."

"Sokka, you better not be going over there to nitpick. We are on a schedule and we don't have time to worry about unimportant details."

"I'll be right back. I'm not gonna bite his head off or anything."

As I got closer, there was no doubt that he was building some kind of chimney.

"Terran what is that? It's not in the plans."

Terran turned around and looked at me. "This? It's what I like to call a heat column. It's based off of what I read about termites. They build these tall nests that have narrow columns in them that help keep the whole thing cool in hot weather. I figure I could replicate that to keep the animals inside cool too."

"Terran, that's stupid. What about when it rains? The whole barn will flood."

"No it won't. I made a cover that fits over the opening. See?" He held up a circular piece of stone in front of him.

"Ok. What about the wind factor? You don't think the wind will affect this? And don't forget about the possibilities of lightning strikes. Really, it's more trouble than it's worth."

"I've already accounted for wind forces and it won't be any more prone to lightning strikes than that house you were working on. I can clearly see a metal weather vane sitting on the very top. Besides, I know of a trick that can fix that. Trust me, there is no danger here."

"What trick? What are you gonna do? Put Aang up there so he can redirect it?" Really, this guy was beginning to work on my nerves with his know-it-allism.

"No. Lighting likes to find the fastest and easiest way to the ground. I'll just run a cable to the ground so the lighting can bypass the barn completely."

_Wow. You've been trying to solve that little problem for a while now._

Shut up. There's a lot of other things I've been trying to solve.

"That actually doesn't sound half bad. You do any inventing in your free time?"

"A little. It's usually stuff that I need to solve an immediate problem. Nothing big."

"Ah, a fellow science enthusiast?"

"Well I do enjoy reading the physics newsletters sent out from Omashu Academy."

"No way. _You _like those?! I thought I was the only one! I guess that explains where all of mine have been going."

Terran blushed and sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "Heh heh. Yeah, sorry about that. I was going to tell you eventually."

"So did you see the latest article about the research being done for a more efficient combustion engine? It's nice to finally see Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom citizens working on something constructive together. But it'll be so much more awesome to see those engines in action!"

**Suki's POV**

"Suki?"

I looked up from my lunch. "Yeah?"

"We're cool, right?"

Confusion filled my mind and I turned to regard the blind individual sitting next to me. "Last time I checked, yes. Why, did I do something to upset you?"

"That's not what I mean. I mean cool as in awesome, epic, made of win. That sort."

"Yeah, I guess."

"Then tell me. How did we end up dating socially awkward nerds?"

"What? Come on, they aren't nerds."

"Suki, Sokka thought it would be cool to challenge you to a haiku slam, and Terran tried to get me to laugh with some obscure physics joke involving gravity. And let's not forget how Sokka managed to figure out the controls to a Fire Nation zeppelin during the comet. He didn't read a manual or anything! I think it's time to face the truth."

"...ok, so they're a little weird, but that doesn't prove-"

Toph continued to stare at me and her hand shot out to the side to point at something. Turning my attention, I realized she was pointing at the two guys in question. They were arguing while putting up more boards and the topic only confirmed Toph's accusations.

"What?! No way, you are so lying!"

"Care to find out, earth boy?"

"Ok, prove it."

"3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510. There, that's pi to fifty decimal places."

Terran narrowed his eyes. "How do I even know if you're right?"

"Alright, here, I'll write what I said, and then you can calculate it."

I looked back at Toph, who was smiling smugly at me, and sighed. "Alright, you win. They're nerds."

"Want to pick at them?"

"And do what?"

"Just watch." Toph jumped down from the half- finished porch we were sitting on, and made her way over to the still arguing guys.

"Hey there. Working hard?"

"Shhhh! Toph I'm concentrating." Terran went back to scribbling with a piece of charcoal on the sizable slab of rock in front of him.

"Snoozles, why is he doing that? What's the matter? Can't work it out yourself?"

Sokka just grinned victoriously and puffed out his chest. "Of course I can. I'm a master at calculating things."

"Please, I bet Terran can do that _way _better than you."

"What?! He could not!"

I knew Toph had them when Terran turned away from his scribbling. "Is that a challenge?"

"Sure, but I don't know if this can really be called a challenge." Sokka said, grabbing some pieces of charcoal and juggling them. There he goes again, letting Toph suck him into pointless competition.

"First one finished wins." Terran scraped the top layer of rock off his slate and raised another for Sokka to write on.

I laughed to myself as the two guys started their "race", and Sokka's tongue was sticking out the corner of his mouth in his look of deep concentration that I always found to be so cute.

Several minutes later, Sokka stopped what he was doing and started jumping everywhere. A few seconds later, Terran also stopped. But Sokka, realizing he had in fact won, made sure to let Terran know it.

"Too late, I already finished. I win. You lose. Game over! Woooo!"

But Terran took it all in stride. "You won by a few seconds, give it a rest. Besides, I'll get you next time."

Sokka kept up his little victory dance, as if beating Terran was the greatest thing he ever accomplished. "Sokka, you seriously need to stop. You're being very unsportsman-like."

"Yeah Snoozels. So you beat him one time."

Sokka stopped what he was doing and crossed his arms in front his chest. "Hey, I could beat him at lots of stuff. Besides, I wrestled you to the ground, didn't I? I bet Book Eater can't be that hard."

Toph's eyes widened and she gasped in fake surprise. "Terran, are you really going to take from him? He just called you weak!"

Terran smirked at him. "You really want to push your luck?"

"Hey, I don't need luck." By now they were staring each other down, their faces only inches apart. I hate when Sokka gets like this. Of course, I also hate when Toph encourages him to get like this. Even though I knew this would only be a friendly round, I noticed a bit more intensity in Sokka's stare, almost like he actually had something to prove.

"Then what are you waiting for? Let's go!"

"Bring it on!" Right after saying that, Sokka punched Terran square in the chest. Terran shoved him back, and the two of them toppled to the ground when Sokka jumped on him.

"What now, tough guy? You like that?!" Sokka grinned wickedly as he held Terran's arms behind his back and pinned him to the ground.

"Get off me!"

Terran managed to flip himself over, knocking Sokka off balance. He then took the opportunity to put Sokka into a headlock. Sokka elbowed him in his gut and then flipped him over his shoulder. Toph visibly winced as Terran landed hard on his back.

"Toph, I think we should stop them. This is starting to get way out of hand. Those two are at each other's throats!"

"Are you kidding?! This is awesome! I barely had to say anything to get them to do that!" I groaned as Toph cheered them on, grinning from ear to ear. But as I watched Sokka and Terran grab onto each other and start beating each other in the ribs, I tried my best to keep from laughing. They looked like a couple of squabbling brothers.

"Hey, let go! That's not cool!"

"Only if you let go first!"

"Do it or I'll make you!"

Terran rammed his fist extra hard into Sokka's side, forcing him to back off and gasp for air while holding his injured ribs. Both of them were breathing heavily and looked like they were gearing up for more.

Terran smirked. "What's the matter? Had enough, _Snoozels_?"

Sokka straightened up and cracked his knuckles menacingly. "Oh, I'm just getting started, _Book Worm_."

Oh no. This could get bloody. "Guys, I think you should stop…"

Suddenly, Sokka tore his shirt off, tossed it to the side and did a 'bring it on' motion. "Let's go, dirt muncher!"

"Errr…on second thought, carry on." I think this just got a little more interesting. And carry on they did. Terran ditched his shirt as well and the two of them got into an all out wrestling brawl that was swiftly escalating.

I cleared out of the way and took up my seat next to Toph, who was laughing. "So you're just going to let them kill each other?"

A blush slowly spread over my cheeks and I just knew Toph could somehow feel the radiating heat. "No…I'm just…watching them to make sure they don't hurt themselves too badly."

"Sure, whatever. Hey, Sokka just stripped off his pants too!"

"Serious?!" I looked around, but only saw him and Terran still going at it. Man, those two just don't give up. Toph's impish laughter, however, snapped me away from that and I facepalmed when I realized how I had embarrassed myself. I was sure my whole face was red. Damn hormones.

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**Sokka's POV**

_Soooo…what have we learned?_

Shut it.

_Fine be that way. Though I must say, you held your own in kicking Terran's ass. I just wish if it weren't at this kind of price._

"Ahhh! Be gentle, that hurts!"

Suki glared at me. "You wouldn't be in this situation if you hadn't been so stupid and competitive."

"It's not my fault! Toph baited us into it. She was an instigator!"

"What can I say? You guys make it fun and easy. Though I have to side with Suki on this. You really brutalized each other."

"Thanks for letting me come here. It must be nice to have a sizable hot spring close by the palace." Terran flinched when Toph's fingers brushed over a particularly painful looking bruise on his chest. "Toph, are you sure you're not too scared being in here?"

"Please, these things are all over the place. This one is fairly shallow, so stop worrying about me. Just hold still, or the water will wash all this off." Toph and Suki dunked their hands in a bowl containing a mixture of mashed up herbal plants with healing properties. After Katara refused to help us when she discovered what happened, I'm just glad the two girls agreed to spread it on our cuts and bruises. I'd help myself, but everything hurts too much.

"You know, it's kind of weird. I thought soaking in these pools would only cause more pain, but it actually feels pretty good after a while. I'll probably need ice later on though. OOOWww! Suki, don't put too much pressure there!"

"If you ask me, you both lost this one. I mean really, just look at yourselves! Sokka, you have breathing problems, and Terran, you are covered in bruises. Was it really worth it?"

Terran and I glanced at each other. "Totally."

Suki looked up at me in annoyance, the corner of her mouth curled down slightly in a frown. But she was back to smiling when I flinched at the stinky yellow plant concoction coming in painful contact with a cut on my brow.

"There, finished. I'll apply some to your legs when we leave. Now, please, try not to kill each other." Suki rinsed her hands in the water and leaned back against the rocky edge of the hot spring. "This is good. I needed to come down here."

I found a sort of shelf on the pool's edge high enough to keep the water from washing away the plant remedy and sat on it. Toph was still working on Terran's upper half, but abruptly stopped and clutched at something under the water.

"Something wrong, Toph?"

Terran helped her float on her back and two tiny feet broke the surface of the water. The problem immediately became clear. The blazing red color stood out as a stark contrast to the black rock of the hot spring.

"Wow, they got really red. I think the pool may be a little too hot."

Terran leaned to look over Toph's head. "It's not the pool Sokka. Her feet are inflamed." His hand lightly brushed one of her toes, and she jerked it away, her teeth gritting against the pain.

"I noticed them hurting just after we left the construction site. I thought if I soaked my feet in the pool, they would be fine."

"Wait, let me get a look at it." I waded across the pool and tried to ignore the pain that shot through my ribs like lightning. I leaned in to get a closer look at Toph's feet and caught a light whiff of something odd emanating from them. Whatever it was, it smelled familiar. Kind of like…like… "Agwar sap?"

Toph lifted her head from the water. "Huh?"

"Agwar sap. It's sap from the Agwar tree. Toph, when I asked you to haul away those trees just before we left, did you step in anything that felt sticky?"

"Yeah, now that I think of it, I did."

"Agwar sap isn't like other types of tree sap. It's very bitter and is actually poisonous to insects that would damage the tree. But for humans, it causes an upset stomach if swallowed and irritation if it gets on the skin. Looks like you got a good deal of exposure."

"So what are you gonna do about it? My feet are killing me!"

"I know how to deal with this. I'll be right back." Suki climbed out of the pool and went into the woods. Meanwhile, Terran and I helped Toph out of the hot spring and sat her on the edge of the pool. Suki came back some time later with a few plants and proceeded to make a paste out of them.

"Make sure you work this into the skin. It'll heal faster than just spreading it on the surface."

"Here Toph, I'll spread it on there." Terran said as he grabbed the bowl and slipped into the water.

Toph, however, didn't look too happy about it and rightfully so. In all the time that we've known her, I'm the only one she will allow to touch her feet on a regular basis.

He reached for her feet, but Toph pulled them away just before he could grab them. "Terran, I don't know about this…"

"It's ok, just relax. Now could you please…" Toph jerked away again when he grabbed for her feet. "hold…" Terran jumped to grab her leg, but she rolled out of the way. "still!" He made a final lunge for her, and Toph rolled off the edge of the pool and hobbled over to the other side. Terran set the bowl of plant paste on the pool's edge and turned to face her with his arms crossed over his chest. "Do you want us to help you or not?"

Toph gripped the pool's edge. "No offense or anything, but I would feel a lot better if Sokka did it."

Ha! Did he honestly think he could muscle in on my terf?

_I know you're jealous of Terran but chill out. Its Toph's dirty feet, ok? _

Hey, it's the meaning that counts. Toph hates it when people touch her feet, so the fact that she allows me to do it without question means she has a great deal of trust in me. Gaining that kind of trust is no easy task, my friend. And who says I'm jealous of Terran?

_Really? You're actually going to argue with me about that?_

Can't you just let me pretend that I'm not?

I lifted Toph out of the hot spring, grabbed the bowl and with the utmost care, began applying the paste to her badly irritated skin. She seemed to relax a little as the plant paste, which felt cool to the touch, soothed her skin, which I'm sure must have felt like it was on fire. Terran watched as Toph grew so relaxed that she eventually went to sleep.

He waded across the pool and stood next to me, I guess to see if she had really gone to sleep. "How did you do that? Doesn't she usually feel uncomfortable if anyone touches her feet?"

I couldn't help but grin smugly at his question. "Yeah, but if she really trusts you and you rub her feet just right, she'll go straight to sleep. Sometimes, I stick her hand in warm water afterward, but don't tell her I said that."

Suki climbed back into the pool and stretched out. "Sokka that is so mean. Why would you do something like that?" She stared at the water as though deep in thought, then smirked and rinsed out the first bowl she used before filling it with water from the pool.

"Suki!" Terran hissed, shocked that she would even consider doing such a thing after saying how horrible I was.

"What? I just want to see…"

"No, she'll notice. So how long do you think it will be before she lets me do this?"

"A few years at least. And that's assuming that she will ever trust you enough."

Terran smiled when Toph tumbled over backwards in her sleep and was jostled awake after hitting the ground. I simply shifted to her other foot and she went right back to sleep.

Terran sat on the underwater shelf and watched a yellow bearded salamander toad swim around. "Maybe one day I'll be one of those lucky few that she trusts."

As I worked the plant medication into the sleeping girl's inflamed skin, I couldn't help but wonder why she chose me to be one of those lucky few, especially after the way I treated her…

_Ohhhh no. I refuse to let you go down pity lane again. First Yue, then Suki, now Toph. It never ends with you, does it?_

Hey, this is serious, just like the last two. After what I did, I'm surprised she even wants to hang out with me.

_Oh, come on. I doubt she even knew you were aware of what was going on. Besides, you said it yourself, it was for the best. It's not like you wanted to be mean or anything._

But I Suki joined our group, I completely ignored Toph. Everytime she asked me to go do something with her, I pushed her away. I acted like she was the annoying third wheel.

_But you were just relieved that Suki was ok. Your behavior was perfectly normal._

No, it wasn't. I sort of knew that Toph had a crush on me. I mean, I'm not the most perceptive person in the world, but with all the hanging on my arm and only letting me guide her around when our group wasn't on some kind of earth, it wasn't that hard to figure out. But I definitely could have dealt with it better.

_But you didn't really like her, did you?_

Maybe at the time I thought I didn't, but looking back, I think I did feel something, but was either too scared or too ignorant to do anything productive. What ever my problem was, it didn't give me the right to do what I did.

_Give it a rest. She was fine._

She was not fine! I saw the look on her face after some kid at Zuko's coronation teased me about her being my girlfriend. Instead of leaving, I said we were just friends and there was no way I would go out with a tomboy who plays in the mud. And that kid only played off my words and probably made her feel even worse. I didn't even try to stop him.

_Yeah, but she agreed with what you said._

She only acted like she did. I know Toph better than anyone else, and I know I caused her a lot of heartache when I said that.

My thoughts took me back to that summer night when I saw her sitting by herself in the courtyard, the moonlight reflecting off of tears that silently steamed down her pale cheeks. I feel like crap. I should have at least went out there and apologized for what I said, but instead I did nothing. And why? Because I was stupid and Suki wanted me to dance with her. And even worse, I continued to pretend that it never happened.

_Dude, seriously, stop blaming yourself for every little thing that happens. It's not like Toph was mentally scarred for life. _

I don't care! She probably felt ripped apart inside and all because I didn't want to deal with an emotionally sensitive situation. She needed someone to talk to more than ever, and I ditched her for Suki.

_Man, you have issues. But, to be realistic, do you really think Toph would have opened up to you?_

I could have at least tried to find out. Instead I just left her out there.

_Not that I don't care, but why does any of this matter? Why do you insist on living in the past?_

It matters because maybe we should just let Terran be with Toph. I don't think she would like me as anything more than a friend after I already sent a rather harsh message telling her that I no romantic interest in her.

_What are you saying?! Look, do you want this or not?_

I do, it's just…I also want her to be happy. I don't want to compromise her joy simply because I feel guilty.

_What if it was more of a "may the best man win" sort of thing? You won't feel like an evil relationship destroyer who forces their wants on others and at the same time, you won't needlessly deprive yourself of the chance to be with Toph._

I…suppose that sounds fair. It wouldn't be my choice; it would be Toph's. Besides, I think it's time to settle all this drama. I can't keep this to myself for the rest of my life.

I finished rubbing the plant remedy on her other foot, and as I watched her mumble something in her sleep, I was sure that I was doing the right thing. She deserves to know the truth, even if she was unaware of any wrong-doing in the first place.

"Sokka, what are you doing?"

I snapped to attention and looked behind me to see Terran looking oddly at me. Still confused, I turned back around to notice that I had been absent-mindedly stroking Toph's face.

_Uh oh. Quick, think of a cover story!_

"Uh, I was…decorating her face with this mushy plant stuff. Do you think this color compliments her skin tone?"

Terran waded over to get a better look. Just when I thought he wouldn't buy it, he grabbed a handful of the black dirt around the pool's edge and dunked it in the water to turn it into black mud.

"I think it could use more black." He said with a mischievous smirk.

It wasn't long before Toph woke up and discovered our poor attempt at a makeover. She was quick to jump on both of us, knocking us backwards into the pool and sending waves uof pain through my torso.

"What have you two idiots done to my face?!"

Toph's angry battering soon turned into her trying to escape me and Terran's double-teaming antics. As I continuously splashed Toph while Terran held her still, I secretly wondered if she would ever someday choose be in my arms instead of his. After all, I still loved Suki just as much as I always have. Plus, I have no idea if Toph has moved on or not, and I was definitely up against some tough competition.

* * *

**I can't help but feel that my description is seriously lacking. Also, I'm trying to compare Sokka and Terran, mostly for later chapters. This was just the beginning and will be an ongoing thing, but feedback on this would be much appreciated.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Behold! I am still alive and back! Please don't be mad, for I come bearing gifts in the form of a new chapter. And what do ya know, just in time for the holidays! So we're cool, right? _*dodges assorted rotten fruit and vegetables* _Umm...sorry for the wait? _*continues to get pelted*_ Anyway, I would just like to give a special thanks to ninjawriter222 for not being afraid to call me on my sucky writing in the last chapter. Thanks for the pointers and I hope this chapter is better than the last. Please enjoy and happy holidays to all!**

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**Terran's POV**

_Dear Mom,_

_It's been so long since I last saw you. Things are going great here. It's almost the start of my first winter here, and while I will miss the pristine snow of the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation offers its own winter beauty. Have you ever heard of snow flowers? They are these absolutely gorgeous white flowers native to the Fire Nation that grow on trees and appear in such abundance during winter that it looks like a blanket of snow is constantly covering everything. Their blooms have already begun to take the country by storm. I can't wait to see what they will look like when the wind blows the mature ones off their branches. _

_As for life around the palace, well, there never is a dull moment. There's always some politician complaining, or someone needing help, and of course Toph and Sokka's latest antics keep everyone from getting too serious. I sometimes get really nervous about my job as Fire Lord Zuko's advisor. The only thing the people under me can see is where I'm from. They think I don't know, but there has been talk among them about everyone stepping out on me. Zuko says if they do, then it will be no problem finding replacements, but that won't help me feel any better. Perhaps I really am my father's son. He too would sometimes think himself a bad boss whenever some of his employees didn't like him or the way he did things. Maybe I should take his advice: You can't please everyone no matter how much you want to. I also still worry about the state of the Fire Nation. It truly amazes me how there are people in this world that hate the fact that the burdens and hardships of war have been lifted from everyone's shoulders. There isn't a day that goes by that we don't get some sort of notice about harassment from rebels or an attack. But I'm glad I have the support of my new friends, as they keep me from going crazy. _

_In case you're wondering, yes, I've been a gentleman to Toph. Even though she likes to keep up a tough exterior, I can tell we are slowly getting closer. She's even letting me help her with her fear of deep water. I think I will never quite figure out how someone that small, with such an obvious handicap can constantly take life by the horns with so much confidence. It's like she refuses to let anything stand in the way of her happiness. For this and many other reasons, I love her very much, but as I am slowly learning each day, not everyone finds her so likeable. Everywhere we go together, people stare at her as if she's something not human. Whether it's out of fear of the unusual or disliking a young, blind girl being so brash and straight forward, I'm not sure, though I am tempted to think it's both. _

_I'm anxious to hear from you and learn how things went with getting the family business back. Please write soon._

_Love,_

_Terran _

The afternoon sunlight poured through my grand office window and reflected off the gold embroidery on the heavy red curtains. The whole space was filled with fine furniture, which included a few overstuffed chairs and a huge chestnut desk, and the floor just in front of it was covered with a large area rug that bore the Fire Nation insignia. I couldn't help but feel a little guilty about the extravagance knowing that there were people who were lucky just to have a roof over their head, but then again, this _is _the royal palace and it would be weird if every room didn't look the part. I read over the letter before sealing it and took it to the palace messengers. Now that I was established in my counsel, my work load was beginning to lessen, and though I will always have plenty to do, blocks of free time have increasingly been popping up, much to my relief. The only problem was what to do with it…

------

It was quiet; Too quiet. I finished lining the boulders I had made in a straight horizontal line and peered over the walls of my elaborately constructed semicircular rock fort. Gazing beyond the sparse trees, I saw the other earthen fort that was sitting a few hundred yards away from mine. The formidable structure looming before me sat there defiantly, casting a shadow on the pock-marked field between it and me. I couldn't see much activity going on and decided to take advantage of the lull in combat. Climbing down from my look out position and standing near one of the readied boulders, I concentrated on the stone walls glaring menacingly at me, taking careful aim with a deadly rock. The fortress seemed impenetrable, but it wasn't what I was after. It was the person defending it that was my real "enemy".

I had caught Toph and Sokka leaving the palace and Toph dragged me out with her to this field. They were on a fishing errand for Katara, and Toph, only being there to help carry the fish back, insisted that I come with them so she wouldn't be bored out of her mind. Sokka agreed with her request, probably remembering what usually happens when Toph gets bored. Now, I found myself tied up in a hardcore version of a snowball fight.

I quickly ducked down when a small head poked up from the opposing fort and launched a barrage of decent sized boulders. A series of _boom_ sounds produced vibrations that shook up my entire fort as my walls were relentlessly pelted. I took cover under a protective dome of rock and prayed that my walls would hold up. Once the sudden attack stopped and the dust settled, I looked across the torn up battle ground and could clearly see my opponent grinning smugly from the ramparts. Her blazing red shirt and black pants with red dragons spiraling up the legs made her stick out like sore thumb against the greens, yellows, and browns of the landscape. I immediately regretted making her that cape. It seemed to change her into a different person despite it being old and tattered, but I supposed the way it looked wouldn't matter to someone who can't see. The oddest thing was why she asked me to paint an image of a watermelon on it. Her reasons still remain a mystery to me, but it must have had some meaning to her, because the minute she tied the raggedy piece of fabric around her neck, she started acting like she was ruler of the world.

"Hear me! My power is formidable. Continue this fight and my attacks against you will only grow stronger! But if you surrender now, I shall spare you from being crushed by a thousand rocks. What say you to this?"

My answer was a large boulder aimed straight for the pint sized conqueror. Of course, she deflected it, but the second one managed to knock the ground out from under her and she jumped away at the last minute to avoid falling to the grassy plain below. I smirked and shook my fist at her for effect even if she couldn't see it. "Keep your tawdry offer! I'm not going down without a fight!"

Toph only grinned wider and raised another rock to throw. "If it's a fight you want, then it's a fight you'll get! Prepare to face the unforgiving wrath of the Melon Lord!"

Melon Lord? Either Toph is mocking the former Firelord Ozai or her issue with little man syndrome, or woman in her case, is even worse than I initially thought. The constant noise from lobbing rocks at each other's forts was beginning to upset a certain Water Tribe warrior in the nearby river. He turned away from the water and waved his fishing spear angrily at us.

"Hey! You two need to keep it down! Your nonsense is scaring the fish away! And Toph, watch where you're throwing those rocks! That last one almost hit me!"

Toph stopped her attacks on my fort. "I know you of all people aren't complaining about nonsense. And I am not Toph. I am the mighty Melon Lord! MWHAHAHAHAHA! Show some respect and kneel before my awesome melon powers!" Toph bellowed from the top of her fort. Her mahogany rag of a cape fluttered in the wind, and she pointed at Sokka like he was an insect. All that was needed were the dark rain clouds and lightning. Her cackling would have been just right for it.

"Whatever, just stop making so much noise!" Sokka went back to his fishing, jabbing at the water every few minutes only now he wasn't in a very good mood. I could see his eyebrows turned down in a scowl and his mouth was moving like he was grumbling to himself.

Getting bored, I climbed down from my fort before crumbling it into a heap and sending it back into the earthen depths from which it came. Toph watched me from the top of hers. "So, you've finally wizened up and decided to surrender. I graciously accept."

I turned around and craned my neck up to face her. "Like I'd ever do something like that. I'm just bored. We keep attacking each other's fort, only to have it get built up again."

"Yeah, alright. I'm getting bored too." Toph jumped down and lowered her fort back into the ground. "Hey lets go bother Sokka!"

The unlucky warrior snapped his head up to stare at us wide eyed like an animal that knows it has been targeted as prey. "No! You stay right over there. I'm handling things just fine."

Toph nevertheless wandered over to the edge of the river he was fishing in, and stuck out her bottom lip in a pout. "But I want to spend time with you."

Sokka turned around to pointlessly glare at her. "I already gave you my towel to make that ridiculous cape." Sokka leaned forward and narrowed his eyes at the towel turned cape still tied around Toph's neck and noticed the muddy picture of the watermelon on it. "Hey! You got mud all over it!"

Toph roughly swatted his hand away when he tried to grab it off her. "It's not mud, it's art. And how dare you insult the symbol of the Melon Lord! You'll pay for your insolence! Lucky for you, the grand Melon Lord is feeling generous today. A fishing lesson should make us even."

Sokka regarded her with a blank stare for few seconds before rolling his eyes and turning back to his business. "Forget it, Toph. You and I both know you have no interest in learning how to fish. In case you haven't noticed, I'm trying to concentrate, so go find something else to do."

Toph crossed her arms and continued to pout. "Oh come on, I can learn how to fish."

"…in deep water…yeah right. Besides, you would need a pole, which I don't have with me right now. All I have is this spear and a back up spear and it's not like you could make much use of them." Sokka closed one eye, I guess to take aim, and jabbed his spear into the water, pulling a fish out. Silently agreeing that he was right, Toph grumpily plopped down on the muddy grass to pick one of the reeds and began chewing on the end of it.

I also went to the water's edge and noticed that the fish Sokka was after had large mouths. "You want to see how we fish back home?"

Sokka looked up from his next target to regard me with a bored expression. "Please, I'm from the Water Tribe. I've seen every technique there is."

"Then prepare to be amazed." I steeled myself for the biting cold of the water and waded into the chilly expanse of the large river. I almost lost my footing when the strong current caught me off guard, especially since Sokka had been wading through the water easily, as if it pushed back with little if any force on him. Sokka stuck his spear into the river bed and leaned forward on it to watch me with a smug expression. I looked around for something, anything at all that I could use as bait. My eyes settled on a partially smashed beetle that had some kind of green ooze coming out of it. A little gross, but it would have to do. I grabbed it and tied it to two of my fingers using the long blades of grass growing along the bank. Sokka looked on curiously as I stuck my hand in the water and waited for one of the hungry fish to take the bait. I silently said my thanks that the water was clear so it would be easier for me to see what I was doing. It wasn't long before a fish came close enough and just as it opened its mouth I hooked my hand inside and pulled it out of the water. It's silvery scales reflected the sun's light as it thrashed wildly about to save itself.

Sokka's eyes widened at the sight of the fish thrashing from my hand. "But…how…"

"An old fisherman who lived in my home town showed me how. I can't do that on fish with small mouths though. I sort of miss every time." I tossed the fish onto the pile that Sokka had accumulated.

The sound of Toph clearing her throat caught our attention. "Hello, blind here. What happened? All I can sense are poor quality vibrations from you two."

"Mister Showoff caught a fish with his hands. You're lucky that fish didn't have teeth." Sokka said with a smirk.

"That's why I always look before doing that. Well, _recently_ anyway." An involuntary shiver went down my back when I remembered how close I had come to losing a hand once. "Want to try, Toph?" I looked at her hopeful that her own curiosity would tempt her into the river.

Toph sat on the river's bank, letting her feet hang in the water and playing with that bit of meteorite she always had with her by bending it into shapes that were just as odd as the material itself. I remembered Katara mentioning that Sokka gave it to her as a gift taken from the same meteorite his sword was made from. I now recognized that she played with the black lump of rock whenever she was either bored or stressed. Despite her blank expression, I'm willing to bet that it wasn't due to boredom this time.

"Sure, that's a great idea. I can't think of anything more enjoyable than getting swept away by the current. Maybe later I can draw us all a picture to commemorate this special moment." Toph said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Sokka toyed around with his spear, twirling it and tossing it in the air. "Come on Toph. You can't be afraid of deep water forever."

I waded over to where she sat and gently took her hands in mine. "Yeah, just remember what we worked on: One step at a time." I knew I was starting to be pushy, but I could sense that Toph wouldn't budge unless someone convinced her. It was frustrating seeing her trying to get away from me and I had to admit there was a moment when I felt like just picking her up and tossing her in. But I knew that wouldn't get me anywhere.

Toph promptly jerked her hands away and backed up from the water's edge. "Are you kidding?! That water is moving very fast. A-and its freezing! You two are going to be sick later on." I knew she was just throwing out excuses, since she had no problem with letting her own feet hang in the supposedly too-cold-to-be-in water. I watched her shiver in the tall reeds, looking paler than usual. A mix of fear and apprehension filled her sightless eyes as she directed her gaze at the running water below and I felt about ready to just let the matter go.

Sokka on the other hand watched the scene while scratching the bit of hair on his chin. His mouth suddenly broke into a huge grin as though he just had an epiphany. His toothy grin turned devious as he grabbed his spear and went back to fishing. "Do my eyes deceive me?! Is this cowardly behavior I'm witnessing? I thought I'd never see the day the Blind Bandit would turn into a coward." I slowly backed away from Toph when she abruptly stopped playing with the meteorite and shot Sokka death glare. If any beat downs were to occur, I didn't want to be anywhere nearby.

"Excuse me?! I am _not_ a coward!" Toph sat there glowering at him and cracking her knuckles.

"Riiiiight. Maybe your fighting name should be the Blind Possum-Chicken." Sokka said, as he bent over laughing.

"Have you completely lost it?!" I hissed at him, convinced at this point that he had indeed left his reasoning at the palace.

"No, this is good. Tell me how this sounds to you: Toph the scaredy cat. Eh? Has a ring to it?"

"I dare you to come here and say that to my face!" By now, Toph was completely red-faced and I could feel the ground around me trembling under her rage.

Sokka didn't look the least bit concerned though. He just went back to searching for more fish to catch, smirking the whole time. "Tell you what. If you have such a problem with it, then why don't you come over here and say so to _my_ face. Oh, wait, that's right! You can't. You're too much of a possum-chicken."

Toph growled menacingly at him. "Sokka…"

Sokka didn't seem to hear her or simply chose not to as he started flapping his arms and clucking like an actual possum-chicken. "Ha, ha! Spineless wonder!"

The ground started trembling a little more violently, but Sokka still kept up his taunting. "Hey Toph, you fat blind pansy, you want to kick my ass so bad? Well here's your target! That is if you can even see where to kick!" He yelled, turning around to shake his rear end.

Toph finally snapped in a screaming rage. Without thought or question, she plowed into the river and charged straight for the source of the relentless tormenting. Sokka just backed away from her, laughing at Toph's attempts to pummel him, and kept her back with the blunt end of his spear. Toph eventually grabbed it and tried to wrestle it away from him.

"The minute I get this spear from you, I'll rip you a new one!"

Sokka just grinned and swung her around until she let go. "I'd like to see you try, squirt."

Toph struggled to get solid footing, but inexperience, shifting soil, and the fast moving river prevented her from doing so, and just when it looked like the current would win and carry her away, Sokka reached in and pulled her up by her arm. Since she kept trying to hit him, I stepped in and pulled her away to let her cool down. She was surprisingly strong for such a small person and I had to struggle to keep her from escaping my grip.

"Whoa! Easy, slugger. Calm down, Sokka was just trying to help you…in his own odd way. Looks like it worked. Can you tell me where you are?"

Toph stopped struggling and stared wide-eyed as realization set in. She then clung tightly to my shirt and held on for dear life.

I could only imagine how frightened she must have felt. Still, I couldn't help but smile at how cute she looked. "Well, now that you've taken your first big steps into deep water, I guess now is as good a time as any to give you your first swimming lesson."

Toph leaned back and locked her blind gaze with mine. "No. No lessons! Just dry land! And don't you dare let go of me! I already almost got taken by the current!" The trembling girl then shut her eyes and buried her face in my arm. It was probably to try to hide the creeping blush that slowly spread over her cheeks. It must not be easy for the world's greatest earthbender to admit when she was helpless or afraid of something.

"But you already got past the hard part and the water only comes up to your waist. Think of it this way. If you learn how to swim, you won't have to be afraid of drowning anymore or being swept away by the current." Toph slowly opened her eyes, but still remained firmly attached to my shirt. Time to pull out the secret weapon. "You know, I was planning on coming back here with you before the first chill of the season is expected. I was going to teach you my fishing trick since you wanted to learn so badly, but seeing as that would require swimming and all, looks like it just won't happen. Shame, it was going to be just the two of us too…"

Sokka grunted before rolling his eyes at us and began moving further away. What's his deal? One would think he would be happy that his best friend is slowly overcoming her fear. I was about to tell him to get back over here and be more supportive when I heard Toph's muffled voice say something.

Her grip on me loosened, and she stopped shaking. "I… guess one lesson would be ok. But you have to promise to not let go! Not even for a second!"

"Of course not, at least not until you feel you're ready." I glanced over at the grumbling warrior who was occasionally shooting furtive glances back at me. "Sokka will be there to help too, won't you Sokka?"

Upon hearing his name, Sokka straightened up and sighed while running a hand through his hair. He then started walking toward us with a soft smile that looked like it pained him to display. What's bothering him? I hope it's nothing I did.

He stopped in front of Toph and ruffled her hair. "Yeah, I'll be there. Someone has to keep you from killing yourself."

Toph swiveled her head around to face him. "Ok, but there is something that I need to make very clear to you first."

Sokka narrowed his eyes as he wisely shifted into alert mode. "And what would that be?"

Before I could even blink, Toph's fist formed a blur as it sailed right into Sokka abdomen, making a sickening _smack_ as it connected. Sokka dropped to his knees, struggling to catch his breath and keep his head above water. Toph, despite her act of violence, smiled sweetly at him, and lifted his head up so his eyes were directed toward her.

"If you ever call me fat again, I will hog-tie you to a tree branch and leave you there. Understand?"

Sokka did his best to mutter a strained "yes" and Toph helped him stay above water by supporting his weight on her shoulders. Note to self: never, ever even hint at the suggestion of saying that Toph is fat.

**Zuko's POV**

It was a peaceful evening in the palace living room, and after a long day of signing orders and wrestling with stubborn politicians, some peace and quiet with my family was exactly what I needed. Mai was lying on a couch by herself and was currently satisfying her growing appetite with a platter of fruit tarts. Katara had just gotten back from speaking with the palace decorators and was going over the list of things that needed to be completed for the trade meeting with the Water Tribes. She hadn't bothered to change out of her blue dress and robe, and instead sat down next to me, letting her dress spread out around her.

"Mom, what's so funny?" I asked looking up from the doll Mai had given me to practice my diaper changing skills on. So far, I wasn't having the best of luck, but I was determined to get it right. My own father may not have been all that involved in my growing up, but I was going to make it a point to be there every step of the way for my child. I'm sure the servants will have plenty to talk about when they see their firelord doing his fair share of changing dirty diapers and rocking his baby to sleep instead of always asking them to do it.

Mom was sitting across from me on one of the red plush chairs in the living room. She just slowly shook her head while covering her mouth and continued reading the latest of a series of scrolls she's been getting ever since we got back from Ba Sing Se.

"Did Sokka make it back home yet with the fish?" Katara asked, looking at the cook's list of requested ingredients. "I sent him and Toph out almost five hours ago. They had better not be goofing off again."

It was all I could do not to swear out loud in front of my mother as I struggled to secure that infernal piece of cloth with a safety pin and only succeeded in pricking myself. So much for it being a _safety_ pin! "Mom, really, what are you reading that's so funny?" Now I'm not the most humorous person in the world, but if there was a good joke to be heard, then I wanted to hear it. Besides, curiosity had gotten the better of me. Those scrolls were starting to become a usual occurance; My mother would get one and her eyes would instantly light up. Her entire persona was noticeably lighter and happier after reading one of those letters, a big difference from her generally depressed mood since leaving my father after finding out exactly what he had done in her absence. I couldn't help but feel a little nosey as to what was in those letters.

"Oh, nothing. Just…the person who wrote this has an amazing sense of humor." She read some more and smiled. "Apparently, he will be attending the upcoming trade meeting and wants to meet me in person."

Katara and I immediately stopped what we were doing and briefly gave each other horrified looks. The person sending those letters couldn't possibly be who we suspected it was. Katara cleared her throat and tried to speak in the least suspicious voice possible.

"But, that trade meeting is to discuss new trade goods with the Northern and Southern Water Tribes."

Mom looked at us, one eyebrow arched up in curiosity. "Yes, but why does that matter? Do you know something I don't?"

"No, no! It's just…"

"Zuko is worried you could be falling for someone and Katara might know who it is." Mai's dry, monotone voice picked up where Katara trailed off. She glanced over at our shocked faces. "What? Don't act like it's not true."

It's _not_ true. We _both_ know who it is. "How on earth could we know who it is? We didn't even know my mother was getting letters from one particular person."

Mai rolled her eyes and went back to eating her fruit tart. "Sure Zuko. Whatever you say."

The sound of happy chatter echoed louder and louder as it slowly approached the room we were in. Sure enough, Toph and Sokka, along with Terran barged in, each with clusters of fish slung over their shoulder. They were all soaking wet, which I found to be a bit of a surprise for Toph. But my initial surprise didn't last long when I noticed one important detail…

"Hey! You three are dripping water all over my floor!"

Katara sighed and got up to bend the water from them and the fish, and into a potted plant. "Well it took you long enough."

A servant who came running up from behind them with a soggy mop, moved in front of them and stood there tapping her foot in an annoyed manner. The new arrivals smiled sheepishly at her and handed her the fish they were carrying so she could head to the kitchen with them. Toph moved the wet, plastered strands of hair away from her eyes. "Is that the thanks we get for slaving away in a cold river? Besides, I just did the coolest thing ever."

Katara crossed her arms. "What? Actually do what I ask you for once?"

"Better. I just beat my fear of water. I've even started learning how to swim." Toph said as she reclined on the sofa next to Katara.

Sokka plopped down next to her and draped his arm over her shoulder. "Yeah, and later, we're gonna celebrate!"

I tried to suppress the agitation at knowing what was most likely to transpire in the very near future. My past experiences told me that Toph and Sokka "celebrating" meant I would eventually get a bill and some very angry complaints about how they, after getting drunk like nobody's business, destroyed some furniture or started a fight or reenacted battles they've been in, or, if they really felt like "celebrating", all three. I considered forcing them to stay here, but that would likely only cause more problems.

"Whatever, just take it outside. I still have a lot of preparations for the trade conference to do around here and- Mom, are you actually writing back?!" I asked in complete shock as I just now noticed she had left the room and saw her returning to her chair with a few sheets of paper, some ink, and a brush.

"Yes, it would be incredibly rude of me not to. Besides, I'm really excited to meet this secret admirer."

I think something inside me just died. My mother?! Dating?! This isn't happening. This _can't _be happening!

"Mom, you don't even know this man! How do you know he isn't dangerous?" Once the cloud of hysterics cleared away, I realized what I had just implied and ducked in time as Katara threw a decorative pillow at me.

"How do you know he _is _dangerous?" Her scowl was more than enough to get the message across. Nevertheless, her expression changed to that of worry, and I knew she was thinking the same thing I was: How in the world are we going to deal with this?

My mother sighed and set down her writing brush. She gave me that small smile that always made me feel better. Unfortunately, it wasn't having much effect this time. "Zuko, I understand how you feel. But I haven't felt like myself these past few years and I feel that it's time for me to move on with my life. I'll still be your mother."

Sokka laughed at my disturbed and pitiful expression. "Yeah, Zuko, quit being such a momma's boy. So Ursa, any idea who it could be?" Wouldn't he like to know.

Mom smiled and shook her head. "No. All I know is that he is from one of the Water Tribes. I'm supposed to meet him at the trade conference."

"Looks like Sparky is going to get a new daddy. Maybe you should start thinking up some father-son activities."Toph said, grinning like a jacklefox.

I could feel my anger and frustration boiling to a dangerous level. This is difficult enough without her jesting, even if she means well. "Don't you have some trouble to get into?!"

Toph just flashed me a toothy grin. "Why yes. Yes in fact we do. Come on, swim instructors, we have some celebrating to do." And with that, the trio left the room talking about which bar they should go to. That should buy me a few hours of peace and quiet.

"See, Mai? I can change a diaper just fine." I held up the rag doll for her to see. She took it and gave it a once over. Strangely, her hopeful expression dropped into one of frowning disappointment.

"I hope you don't stab the real baby with the safety pin." She gave it back to me and I immediately looked at it to see what she was talking about. I groaned when I saw that I had accidentally pinned part of the doll's lower stomach along with the ends of the cloth diaper.

Mom chuckled. "Don't feel too bad, sweetheart. I accidentally stuck you with a safety pin while changing your diaper once. Of course it was mostly due to you wiggling around so much, but still, I thought I would never forgive myself."

Mai and Katara had a good laugh completely at my expense as I grudgingly fixed my error.

* * *

**Toph's POV**

"Hmm. I think I like this rum better than that beer I had at Jong's tavern last time. That stuff tasted weird." Terran wiped the foam from his lip. "He should consider changing suppliers."

Sokka choked on his drink and cleared his throat nervously. "Heh heh…yeah…the supplier…anyway, here's to you Toph. May water never again be your master."

I raised my glass up to Sokka and Terran's, making some of it spill onto my hand as I searched where to place it. "Yeah, to kicking fear's ass."

"You know, I think it's awesome that Ursa is looking for someone nice to spend her life with. She deserves it after what that jerk she was married to did." Sokka said after taking a gulp from his glass mug. "It might not be so popular though. The idea of Fire Nation and Water Tribe citizens mixing probably won't be well received."

"Yeah, especially when they find out who it is." Sokka and Terran stopped drinking and sat very still, most likely waiting expectantly for me to continue. "Sorry, not telling." Bumi was right; Messing with people is fun.

"But…you have to. You can't imply that you know something and then not tell what it is. That's like, against the rules of gossip or something." The alcohol must have been starting to kick in as Terran's words sounded a little buzzed.

"In case you haven't noticed, I don't have a good track record of following the rules."

Terran leaned on me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. "Come on, Toph. Be a sport."

The contact between his arm and my shoulder sent chills down my spine and made my cheeks flare up. Hopefully, Terran would chalk it up to the rum. I didn't need my boyfriend pointing out my soft side in a place where everyone, even the gruffest of thugs, knew to respect my tough reputation.

Shrugging off the girly slip up, I turned in my seat so my back was partially facing him. "Bite me."

Terran grumbled something that even I couldn't hear and downed the rest of his drink. "Ok, what if you and I had a drinking contest? I win, and you have to tell us."

I almost choked when I burst out laughing at his foolish challenge. The idea was so absurd! "What?! You really think that will work? No one has been able to drink me under the table since I was 14. If you really think you can beat me, then you sir, are an even bigger idiot than Sokka, and that's saying something."

Sokka, who was also laughing, stopped. "Ha ha, that's…hey!"

Terran set his empty glass on the table. "You, me, right now. I win, and you have to tell who is sending those letters to Ursa."

"Ok, but what if _I_ win? You have to make it worth my while."

Terran leaned back in his chair and scratched at his chin. "If you win…I have to cook whatever you want for a whole day."

Sokka scoffed at the idea. "A personal chef? The palace has lots of those."

"The palace chefs are excellent, but they don't know what he knows in the way of Earth Kingdom cuisine. The kid can cook." The minute I showed Terran the lavishly decked out kitchen in the palace, I knew it would only be a matter of time before he would attempt to sneak past the servants and cooks to try out his skills on the equipment. Sure enough, I felt him sneaking in there one day, and suggested that a bite of the crab puffs he was making as well as continued offerings of personally cooked food might just keep me from politely informing the head chef as to who was using her prized cookware behind her back. Unfortunately, he slyly mentioned that she'd probably be disappointed to know that her kitchen was being raided on a regular basis at night. How he could have possibly found that out was beyond me, and knowing that he wouldn't tell me under any circumstances, we simply agreed that he would serve one three course meal in the privacy of my room and we would call it even. But what a meal it was.

I scooted my chair closer to the table and shoved the empty glass mugs aside. "Order another round. I'm getting me a personal chef."

Sokka called for more drinks and tried to talk Terran out of it. No amount of potential excitement from getting to see Terran pass out in a fruitless attempt to beat me could stifle the small amount of concern Sokka may have felt for him. Even I felt it was only fair to give him another warning, and I probably would have if Sokka hadn't beaten me to it. "Don't let the alcohol fool you! She may not look like it, but Toph can really put away her drinks."

But Terran, just as I had predicted, wouldn't listen. Especially since his judgment was already impaired a little. "Don't worry about me. This is where her small size will really hurt. Bigger people can hold down their alcohol better."

I just smirked and grabbed one of the mugs brought to us. "If you say so."

* * *

**Toph's POV**

As I slowly faded back into half-consciousness, I noticed that I felt very warm. Not uncomfortably warm though. And I was somewhere soft. This is nice. I could get used to this. I snuggled deeper into the warmth and began to gradually dose off. That is until I felt something move. My breath hitched in my throat and my eyes cracked open a bit in surprise, but my state of alarm was fleeting, as the movement only lasted a few seconds and for all I knew, it could have been me. So I closed my half-opened eyes and tried to go back to sleep. I had a mild headache, but it was nothing too bad. Maybe it will go away if I get some more rest.

I yawned and moved a little closer to the source of warmth, which apparently was right in front me, and was something tangible. And it smelled nice too. Like freshly cut grass mixed with a tinge of rum. I pressed my nose against it and couldn't help but press the side of my face there as well. It was also surprisingly soft and smooth, creating a rhythmic sound that slowly rocked me to sleep…wait. Did that thing just rub my arm?

The wheels in my clouded head creaked into motion, and I realized that rhythmic sound was very similar to a heartbeat. Heartbeat?! My own heart started racing when I realized that my source of warmth was in fact _alive_. Had I fallen asleep outside? If so, it could have just been Cabi. Allowing my face and hands to linger where they were, I felt the familiar rising and falling action of breathing, but not Cabi's soft fur. It was all I could do to keep from jolting up into a sitting position when I realized this was a person I was next to! Ok, don't panic. Just slowly back away and…

"Mmmmm…" Whoever was laying next me groaned in protest and tightened their arms around me when I began to inch away from them, bringing me back to where I was and further complicating things. What's more, I actually recognized the voice, much to my horror.

Terran?! What is he doing in my bed?! I _am_ in a bed, right? Uhhh…yeah! I'm lying on a soft surface that I can't see on. This is my bed.

But it just kept getting worse. My sensitive hands were telling me that he had no shirt to speak of. Even worse, I realized, neither did I! A million thoughts as to what could have possibly happened to lead to this began rushing around my hung over mind, none of them good. Ok, ok, deep breath. I need to slow down before I get taken by my imagination. Let's see. I just woke up from sleeping in my bed. Or at least I assume this is my bed. At the very least, this proves that I am not in jail and I fell asleep indoors, most likely at the palace. That is a good thing. What else? Uhh…Terran is with me, so at least I know he is ok…for the most part. Oh man, my head feels like it's ready to explode. Wait, I have a hangover. That means I got incredibly drunk at some point. That's when it all came rushing back to me at once. Celebrating at a bar with Sokka and Terran, Terran challenging me to a drinking contest, the countless number of mugs filled with rum, me being shocked at how long Terran was lasting, and then…nothing. I found myself breathing unusually hard when I couldn't remember what happened after that. It wasn't unusual for me to wake up after a night of drinking and not remember the events that took place, but I had never gone out drinking with someone that liked me the way Terran does. Anything could have happened, and I do mean _anything_.

However, some of my fears were alleviated when I noticed that I at least had my underclothes on, and I breathed a sigh of relief when my fingers brushed against the top of Terran's pants. Ok, so at least it doesn't appear to be as bad as I thought. But still, that's just appearances…

"Mmm, my head…" My feeling on him had woken Terran up (finally) and his groaning indicated he wasn't feeling so good. Not taking any notice of my presence, he simply yawned, pulled me closer, and went back to sleep. Come to think of it, he was probably _way_ more hung over than I was.

I sighed. It was clear he wasn't going to get up anytime soon. Fortunately, there is more than one one way to get him to let go of me and wake up, and I saw it as an opportunity that was not to be wasted. I had wondered what he looked like for a while now, and I decided to find out while waking him up in the most entertaining way possible. I brought my hand up to his face and ran them over his features, carefully memorizing every detail. I thought for sure he would wake up, but he just shifted a little and went back to sleep. He barely responded when I decided to slap him, which got me worried. How much did he drink last night?

I was left with one last idea. I punched him as hard as I could over and over again until he finally woke up and stayed awake.

"Urrrrggg. Who is that?" He slowly propped himself up and almost fell back down when he realized I was with him. "Toph? What on earth on you doing here?!"

"I could ask you the same question."

"Uh, not really. This is my room. I'm supposed to be here. What's your excuse?"

I sat up and made one last attempt to remember how I had ended up in this situation. "I got nothing. Unless you remember something." I asked nervously, wondering if I even wanted Terran to remember. What if I made a total ass of myself in front of him? On the other hand, since when did I start caring about stuff like that?

I felt him shift and rustle around. His voice sounded muffled, like he had covered his head. "I don't remember anything. And please keep your voice down. My head is pounding." I was about to say something else when he picked his head up and I could sense that he was staring hard at me. "What happened to your clothes?" He said, barely above a whisper. He then groaned and plopped back on the bed. "Ohhhh man. _Please_ tell me we didn't…you know…do it."

"Chill out. I don't think things went _that_ far. You still have your pants on."

"That's good to know." Terran turned over, groaning in discomfort. "I'll be right back."

He slowly got up and wandered off somewhere, probably the bathroom. It just hit me that Sokka would probably know what happened last night. After all, I wasn't about to be cheated out of my prize if I had in fact won the drinking contest. Terran shuffled out of the bathroom a short while later, collapsed back onto his bed and pulled the covers up around himself.

"Sooo…are you going to be ok?"

Terran mumbled from the covers and scooted a little closer to me, the only word I could make out being "hurts". For some reason, after my brief moment of hysteria upon wakening had passed, I noticed that the aches and pains from the hangover felt worse when Terran let go of me. In fact, before he let go, I could hardly feel them at all. Instead I felt…fuzzy…and tingly inside. As cheesy as that sounds, I found myself wanting more of it.

"So I take it that you'll be fine by yourself." No response. "Because you know, I could stay if you want me to. I've had plenty of hangovers myself so I know you must feel horrible right now, and no one wants to suffer alone, right?" What is wrong with me?! Since when do I ever feel this sappy and needy about anything? That's it. I need to get out of here. Terran probably thinks I'm weird now. "You know what? You probably don't want to be bothered right now, so I'll just show myself out."Just as I began scooting off his bed, I felt a strong hand quickly grab me around the waist and snatch me back. The fast motion made my head spin and I became slightly disoriented.

"I never said you had to leave. Now, please, keep your voice down."

My cheeks burned at how stupid I must have sounded. Nice going Toph, you didn't even have to ask! I swear it's like some of Aang's dorkiness has rubbed off on me. Still, embarrassing or not, I got what I wanted. Now that I was fully aware of what was happening around me, it felt kind of awkward sleeping this close to someone, especially when they were breathing in my ear. But at the same time it felt…awesome. I didn't have that little nagging voice in my head telling me that this was fake and it wouldn't last. I didn't feel like I was intruding on someone else's relationship. It felt odd not having to hold back or pay attention to every little thing I did lest I invoke the wrath of a certain Kyoshi warrior. As I ignored my awkwardness and snuggled back into Terran's chest, I realized how nice it was to have the object of my affection actually return my feelings. I still loved quietly relaxing next to Sokka, but I liked resting next to Terran more. In fact, it felt…right. Like it should have happened a long time ago. So I found it strange, and felt a little guilty…ok, _very_ guilty, that the only thing I could think about as I fell asleep was how awesome it would be to have Sokka teaching me how to swim while wearing his swim trunks.

* * *

**Hm, older Sokka in swim trunks._*drool* _Please leave a review, especially if you have any complaints about the quality of this chapter.**


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